OIG Launches Multiple Investigations into Nursing Home Response to COVID-19

The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) watchdog arm added multiple probes of nursing homes’ response to COVID-19 to its list of top 2020 priorities, with a particular focus on infection control. The HHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) last Friday announced two coronavirus-related investigations as part of its ongoing 2020 Work Plan […]

As Nursing Homes Compete Against Bigger Rivals for PPE, ‘It’s Like the Wild West’

As skilled nursing facilities try to contain COVID-19 within their walls, or prevent it from entering at all, the skyrocketing cost of personal protective equipment (PPE) has been a significant stumbling block to their efforts. Without the proper PPE, staffers are at risk of contracting the virus as they care for COVID-19-positive patients, while residents […]

Birx Defends Testing Progress: ‘We Only Have 1M Nursing Home Residents’

The coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force on Friday defended the federal government’s progress in encouraging universal COVID-19 testing in nursing homes, asserting that the nation has the capacity to test more people than currently live in long-term care facilities. “We only have a million nursing home residents,” Dr. Deborah Birx said during […]

HHS Releases $4.9B in COVID-19 Relief for Skilled Nursing Facilities

The federal government on Friday announced the distribution of almost $4.9 billion in COVID-19 relief funds directly to skilled nursing facilities, the first specific tranche of stimulus money for the industry released since the start of the pandemic. Each skilled nursing facility in the country will receive a baseline paymentof $50,000, plus an additional $2,500 […]

No Connection Between Nursing Home Ratings, Profit Status and COVID-19 — But Race a Major Factor

Differences in nursing homes’ federal quality ratings and profit status have no bearing on the probability of COVID-19 infections, a University of Chicago researcher said during testimony before the U.S. Senate on Thursday — but preliminary data does indicate a strong connection between race and coronavirus outbreaks. “Nursing homes are often a reflection of the […]

Price Tag for Testing All Nursing Home Residents, Staff for COVID-19 Once: $440 Million

The nation’s largest organization representing nursing homes on Wednesday pegged the one-time cost of testing each resident and staff member in the United States at $440 million, arguing that substantially more funding for long-term care will be necessary to meet more stringent testing mandates. The American Health Care Association arrived at that figure by adding […]

ProMedica Reports ManorCare Income Gains, $158M in CARES Act Support

ProMedica saw improvement in its HCR ManorCare nursing home business line during the first quarter of 2020, though the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic remains a long-term unknown for the health system. The Toledo, Ohio-based ProMedica pulled in $17.1 million in income associated with its ManorCare business to start 2020, according to its most […]

FTC Warns Nursing Homes, Assisted Living Facilities Not to Claim Residents’ COVID-19 Stimulus Checks

The Federal Trade Commission late last week warned operators of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities that residents’ stimulus checks cannot be counted as resources for Medicaid purposes. Citing the text of the CARES Act, the FTC affirmed that the one-time stimulus payments of up to $1,200 count as tax credits and not “resources” […]

Cuomo Backs Off on Nursing Home Prosecutions: ‘People Are Going to Die By This Virus. That’s the Truth’

Several weeks after vowing to pursue serious penalties against nursing homes with COVID-19 deaths, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo seemingly backed away from that threat in a Sunday press conference. Asked by a reporter about how the families of nursing home residents who died from the coronavirus can pursue justice for their loved ones, Cuomo […]

Verma Praises Nursing Home Staff for ‘Amazing Job,’ But Surveys Find Lingering Infection Control Problems

Leaders at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Wednesday praised nursing home administrators and staffers for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic, while also highlighting some nagging infection-control issues observed during the first major batch of post-coronavirus surveys. State surveyors have visited about 6,800 nursing homes, or 44% of the nation’s total, […]

As Regulators Mull New Rules, Nursing Homes Must Embrace Ownership Transparency

Before COVID-19, the last major nursing home story to break into national headlines was the case of Skyline Healthcare. The New Jersey operator emerged from obscurity to amass more than 100 buildings from the Northeast to the Midwest, before collapsing under the weight of unpaid bills and operational problems. Court-appointed receivers and state officials spent […]