The federal government is providing $165 million in supplemental funding to states for a longstanding Medicaid program designed to transition seniors from nursing homes and other institutions and into home- and community-based services (HCBS).
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released recommendations from the Coronavirus Commission on Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes on Wednesday and, as expected, they contain a laundry list of steps that providers will be expected to take for future pandemic conditions or public health emergencies.
Providers cheered federal health officials’ decision to withdraw a proposal they warned could cut up to $50 billion nationwide from the Medicaid program annually.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has withdrawn a much-criticized Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Rule that could have caused havoc for skilled nursing providers, in at least 11 states in particular. A vast array of healthcare providers and stakeholders, beyond long-term care, as well as governors and patient advocacy groups, opposed the MFAR Rule.
The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stressed the need for repeated testing among staff members to stop the spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes.
Nursing home stakeholders in Washington state are accusing the officials there of sitting on federal coronavirus relief funding designed to help nursing home operators struggling with increased costs during the pandemic.
Omnicare and parent company CVS Health earned a court victory this week after a federal appeals court agreed to dismiss a whistleblower’s False Claims Act lawsuit for an alleged kickback scheme.
Now is the opportunity for providers, policymakers and other stakeholders to aggressively reform the long-term services and supports system after its underlying weaknesses were exposed under pandemic conditions, experts argue in a new Health Affairs blog post.
Highly rated operations had 3% fewer newly admitted residents with Alzheimer’s. CNA wages and Medicaid add-ons may play a role in the findings, report investigators.
Another handful of states are now leveraging Medicaid to assist nursing homes struggling with added costs during the coronavirus pandemic, LeadingAge detailed in a new blog post.
