Long-term care providers are being urged to participate in a federal vaccination program that would provide COVID-19 vaccines to residents and staff members with no out-of-pocket costs.
Long-term care providers in Nevada are being advised to continue using point-of-care rapid testing devices provided by the federal government — despite a state order that nursing facilities immediately suspend use of them due to suspected unreliable performance issues.
President Trump’s abrupt decision to halt negotiations between his staff and federal lawmakers on another COVID-19 relief bill until after the election could mean doom for residents and workers at long-term care facilities, providers warned Tuesday.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service is currently investigating whether it should require surveyors and ombudsmen to be subject to similar COVID-19 testing mandates as nursing home workers, a top health official revealed Monday.
A leading long-term care provider association was among those incensed Monday afternoon after President Trump sent a tweet telling people he was leaving the hospital after being treated for COVID-19 over the weekend. “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life,” Trump said, in part.
Healthcare providers that have already received coronavirus relief payments through the Provider Relief Fund can apply for additional funding starting Monday.
Healthcare stakeholders who regularly come into contact with skilled nursing residents should be subject to COVID-19 testing mandates similar to those for nursing home employees, a prominent long-term care group said Wednesday in a pair of letters to the head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The federal government’s plan to ship a total of 33 million additional point-of-care tests to nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the coming weeks is just “a drop in the bucket [when] considering the volume needed” by providers, observed leaders of the nation’s second largest nursing home association.
Increasing direct care workers’ pay to a living wage would not only raise their total wages by $9.4 billion by 2022, it would also come with a set of benefits for operators, which includes less staff shortages and turnover costs, an industry study reveals.
About 20 to 25% of skilled nursing facilities have received false positive results from their COVID-19 point-of-care antigen testing devices, a joint survey conducted by the American Health Care Association and LeadingAge revealed.
