LTC Properties Completes Sale of Preferred Care Portfolio for $77.9M

LTC Properties Inc. (NYSE: LTC) finalized a deal to fully divest its portfolio of 22 skilled nursing facilities operated by Preferred Care ahead of schedule, announcing the completion of the $77.9 million transaction on Thursday. The Westlake Village, Calif.-based real estate investment trust (REIT) had been in the process of selling the group of 22 […]

States Call in National Guard to Help with Infection Control, COVID-19 Testing in Nursing Homes

As nursing home operators around the country work to stem the rapid spread of COVID-19, multiple state governments have announced the deployment of the National Guard to supplement existing staff in long-term care facilities. In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp ordered the activation of more than 100 members of the state’s National Guard, who will be […]

Fitch: Skilled Nursing REITs Can Withstand COVID-19 Crisis — To a Point

Most of the real estate investment trusts (REITs) with holdings in skilled nursing and senior housing facilities can weather the financial strains caused by COVID-19, a major credit rating agency affirmed this week — but only if current trends hold. Various REITs have responded to the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic by taking steps to […]

Skilled Nursing Telehealth Adoption Not Without Challenges — But COVID-19 Changes Likely Here to Stay

About a month after COVID-19 first arrived on America’s radar, the federal government continues to tear down the dense web of regulations surrounding all aspects of the health care continuum in an attempt to fight back against the coronavirus pandemic. As health care providers and officials look to prevent all non-emergency visits to nursing homes, […]

New CMS Waivers Eliminate ‘All Barriers’ to Telehealth in Skilled Nursing Facilities

As part of a sweeping set of waivers announced late Monday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded its efforts to cut restrictions on telehealth — essentially removing any last roadblock that providers would face to offering virtual interventions at nursing homes. By allowing providers to perform initial and discharge services remotely, and […]

SNFs Can Capitalize on Up to $10M in Forgivable Loans for Payroll, Rent — But Window May Be Short

As part of the sweeping $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package signed into federal law last week, the Small Business Administration will soon offer up to $10 million in fully forgivable loans to small businesses across all industries under its Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Skilled nursing facilities feeling the payroll or rent pinch can capitalize on […]

CMS Waives Rules for Long-Term Care Transfers to Create COVID-Specific Nursing Homes, Expands Testing Coverage

The federal government this week released a slew of new waivers aimed at stopping the spread of the novel coronavirus, with specific guidance allowing nursing home operators to create dedicated facilities for COVID-19 residents. As leaders in multiple states raised alarms about the danger of admitting infected residents into nursing homes, the Centers for Medicare […]

Researchers Find ‘Perverse Incentives’ for Skilled Nursing Operators Under PDPM

The new Medicare payment model for nursing homes was designed to eliminate the temptation to make key care decisions based solely on reimbursements, and not on individual residents’ needs. Though the early results from the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) have largely been positive for the industry, a group of researchers this week raised concerns about […]

AHCA’s Parkinson: Orders Requiring Nursing Homes to Admit COVID-19 Patients Will Increase Death Toll

New York State has already told nursing homes that they cannot deny admissions solely because of a positive COVID-19 test — nor can they require residents to submit to testing as a condition of entry. Multiple other states are now mulling similar orders, according to the American Health Care Association, which on Saturday warned that […]

CMS to Offer Advance Medicare Payments to Providers as COVID-19 Relief

The federal government on Saturday announced a plan to offer advance Medicare fee-for-service payments, as well as accelerated reimbursements, to all Medicare Part A and B providers. Under the terms of the emergency action, most providers who bill under Medicare Parts A and B can request up to 100% of their Medicare payment for a […]

COVID-19 Briefs: Relief Bill with $200M for CMS Survey Work Becomes Law, MIT Identifies High-Risk Nursing Homes

The House of Representatives on Friday passed a $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package that contains $200 million for the federal government’s infection-focused inspections of nursing homes — while otherwise mostly passing skilled nursing facilities by. President Trump signed the bill into law later Friday afternoon. The bill, known as the CARES Act, set aside that […]

How Extended Care Clinical Worked to Halt a Nursing Home COVID-19 Outbreak

Less than 10 days ago, the Chateau Nursing & Rehabilitation facility in the suburbs of Chicago was in an incredibly difficult position: One day after 22 residents were initially confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus, the number of cases climbed to 46, according to local news reports. With long-term and post-acute care providers well […]

Skilled Nursing Lenders Still Operating, But Expect Delays — and Focus on Existing Clients Over New Ones

A group of senior housing and care lenders on Thursday emphasized that financing remains available in the space, but buyers and sellers shouldn’t expect business as usual when trying to complete deals during the COVID-19 pandemic. “There is capital out there, but I would say it is definitely a more limited supply and not nearly […]

Stimulus Lifts 2% Medicare Rate Cut, But Nursing Homes Largely Left Out — While Other Settings See Relief

The Senate’s landmark $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package contains a temporary 2% bump on Medicare fee-for-service reimbursements across the board, but aside from increased funding for the federal government’s infection-control crackdown, skilled nursing facilities were largely left out of the post-acute relief. The bill, which the Senate passed by a vote of 96-0 on Wednesday […]

‘Plow It Down’: Nursing Home Operators, CMS, Insurers Must Think Bigger to Fight COVID-19 Tide

Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen the federal government rapidly dismantle the dense scaffolding of rules and regulations that had been built over the course decades, all in the name of fighting the novel coronavirus. Ideas once unthinkable — doctors providing consultations over Skype without fear of violating HIPAA, a blanket freeze on the […]

Coronavirus Stimulus Bill Includes $200M for CMS Infection-Control Efforts at Nursing Homes, $100B in Health Grants

The $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill that was approved late Wednesday in the Senate includes $200 million in funding for a federal push to bolster infection-control efforts in the nation’s nursing homes. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has placed infection control at the center of its emergency nursing home inspection protocols, suspending […]

Emergency Medicaid Waivers Expand to 13 States, Eliminating Prior Auth and Approving Alternate Care Sites

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) late Monday approved 11 new state Medicaid waivers, opening the door for a host of emergency solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic — from an elimination of prior authorization requirements to the potential provision of care at unlicensed facilities. After Florida and Washington state landed the first 1135 […]

Signature’s Chief Medical Officer: COVID-19 Crisis Will Usher in ‘New Era’ of Skilled Nursing, Post-Acute Care

As both the chief medical officer for Signature HealthCARE and president of AMDA, the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, Dr. Arif Nazir has a micro- and macro-level view on how skilled nursing facilities are fighting the coronavirus. And even in these early days of the crisis, Nazir believes that the sweeping emergency steps […]