Ambitious ideas regarding long-term care’s future can be expected when mass vaccinations bring some stability and conditions settle down, said American Health Care Association CEO and President Mark Parkinson.
A vast majority of nursing home residents are signing up to receive the first dose of available coronavirus vaccine, according to the leader of the nation’s largest nursing home association.
Providers are set to receive extended relief from the 2% Medicare sequester cuts under a year-end legislative relief deal that was finalized by federal lawmakers on Monday. However, they will have to wait for liability protections from coronavirus-related lawsuits after such shields were not included in the pending COVID-19 relief package.
The federal government began sending $1.1 billion in coronavirus relief funding to nursing homes this week to help providers cope with lost revenues and increased expenses caused by the pandemic.
Ninety percent of nursing home operators are currently operating at a loss or at a profit margin of less than 3% — with almost two-thirds of them operating a loss, according to a new industry survey.
The nation’s two largest nursing home associations are urging lawmakers to reach a deal on two COVID-19 relief bills that would provide $2 billion in overall aid to providers.
The nation’s two largest nursing home associations sang the praises of Xavier Becerra, who President-elect Joe Biden has chosen to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
A one-month delay “could result in more than 20,000 of our residents losing their lives when a vaccine could have saved them,” AHCA / NCAL leader Mark Parkinson said Monday.
The nation’s two largest nursing home associations are pressing state governors and federal lawmakers for additional support following a vote this week by a federal advisory panel recommending that residents and long-term care workers get first access to a COVID-19 vaccine.
An influential committee on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to recommend that healthcare personnel and residents in long-term care should be the very first recipients of COVID-19 vaccinations. The vote reflects a desire for maximum benefit and minimum harm, committee members said.
