The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a clarification to its nursing home visitation guidance, just a few days after a some of the largest aging services organizations urged government officials to provide flexibility in limiting visitation due to the latest surge in COVID-19 cases. In a nursing home visitation frequently asked […]
Category: Compliance
Four Democratic Senators penned a letter this week to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, urging the agency to take action to protect nursing home residents and staff against the rapidly spreading omicron and delta variants. HHS needs to help nursing homes pick up the pace of booster and third dose administration, the […]
Several recurring topics crept up while chronicling Skilled Nursing News’ most-read stories of the year – occupancy, staffing, acquisitions and the industry’s place in value-based care – among others. Of course, the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and subsequent mandate were top-of-mind the entire year as well. The Biden administration sought to boost lagging staff vaccine rates […]
Aging services organizations are now urging the Biden administration to provide flexibility in limiting visitation within nursing homes, citing expected surges in COVID-19 cases tied to the omicron variant. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in November issued guidance allowing visitation for “all residents at all times.” While visitors should be made aware […]
Former Skyline Healthcare owner Joseph Schwartz on Monday was charged with Medicaid and tax fraud – more than three years after the nursing home chain collapsed. The Arkansas Attorney General’s office charged Schwartz, who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., with eight counts of Medicaid fraud and two counts of tax fraud – all felonies – according […]
In a partial win for the Biden administration, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday revived the health care worker vaccine mandate in 26 states. A three judge New Orleans-based panel ruled that a lower court injunction only had the authority to block the mandate in 14 states involved in the lawsuit: Alabama, […]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday said it will be releasing $9 billion in Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 payments to health care providers, including nursing homes. Payment will be disbursed later this week, HHS said in a statement. Small providers are expected to receive on average $58,000 – medium […]
An improved relationship between health systems and skilled nursing operators lies in improving clinical pathways – providing a game plan for residents transitioning from one part of the care continuum to another to avoid poor patient outcomes. Live data is key to improving performance across the continuum and coming up with the right pathway for […]
For operators feeling the excruciating slowness of the certificate of need (CON) route to expansion, or are hitting a roadblock with moratoriums on new skilled nursing beds, many are opting to acquire bed licenses from other operators. The option offers another way to grow across state lines, or in an existing market. Still, bed license […]
When the federal vaccine mandate for health care workers went into effect before the latest court injunctions stopped it in its path, there was a time when Accura HealthCare CEO Ted LeNeave was going to have to lay off 1,000 unvaccinated workers companywide. Balancing what was initially issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has suspended its vaccine mandate for health care staff, including those who work in nursing homes, so long as court injunctions remain in effect. CMS announced the mandate suspension in a memo on Thursday, adding that it has appealed both court decisions and has filed motions for […]
Operators are walking a tightrope following a series of injunctions issued against the federal vaccine mandate, developing plans to have staff fully vaccinated by early next year while balancing compliance between the courts and federal agencies. Two preliminary injunctions were issued this week, most recently by Judge Terry Doughty of the U.S. District Court for […]
A federal judge in Louisiana issued a nationwide preliminary injunction Tuesday, freezing the start of President Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers across the country. Judge Terry Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana issued the decision — which affects more than 10.3 million health care workers in […]
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on Monday issued a preliminary injunction against the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, blocking the requirement for health care workers in 10 states. Nursing homes in Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota and New Hampshire won’t have to adhere to […]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is working on developing vaccine mandate guidance for surveyors, the government agency said during a stakeholder call last week. While the guidance is forthcoming, CMS is placing responsibility on state agencies to conduct safe surveys. Guidance will be relevant to surveyors within CMS, state surveyors and “non-nursing […]
A Florida federal judge will not temporarily pause the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccine mandate while the case is being litigated. This is the first time the CMS requirement for health care workers, including nursing home staff, has been weighed in on by the courts. Florida officials asked a U.S. District Court […]
New York Assembly investigative findings — released publicly Monday regarding former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s conduct in office — confirmed a statewide underreporting of nursing home resident deaths tied to COVID-19. COVID-19-related nursing home deaths that occurred “for a period of approximately two weeks in April and/or May 2020,” reported after 5 p.m. each day, were […]
Skilled nursing facilities may not receive their much-needed Phase 4 disbursement of Provider Relief Funds (PRF) until the new year, with disbursements delayed through January, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) said. Originally, skilled nursing operators expected to receive Phase 4 payments between mid-November and mid-December — and that timeframe has shifted to include […]
Nursing home-initiated discharges require a closer look as “inappropriate discharges” may be on the rise, according to a report released by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Overall, OIG isn’t aware of how many residents have experienced facility-initiated discharges from nursing homes, much less which […]
Private equity acquisition of nursing homes is tied to increases in emergency room visits, hospitalizations and higher Medicare costs, according to a recently published JAMA Health Forum study. The study found PE firm-owned nursing homes were 11.1% more likely to have an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) emergency department (ED) visit and 8.7% more likely to […]
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