Even Strictest Nursing Home Guidance Meaningless Without Two Things: COVID-19 Tests and PPE

Over the last month, we’ve seen entire years’ worth of rulemaking around nursing home safety, as both the federal government and individual states respond to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. These efforts have taken many forms. At the federal level, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has largely focused on removing regulatory barriers on […]

CMS: Nursing Homes Should Separate Staff Into Teams, Develop Dedicated Wings and Buildings for COVID-19

Building on individual state actions, the federal government on Thursday night directed the nation’s nursing home operators to begin setting up separate wings — or entire facilities — for residents who have tested positive for COVID-19, while also encouraging operators to use separate teams of staff members to better monitor developing cases. The Centers for […]

SNN Poll: Nearly 30% of Operators Pressured to Admit COVID-19 Cases, 28% Report Families Removing Residents

Nearly a third of skilled nursing operators reported feeling pressure to admit residents who had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to a recent poll conducted by Skilled Nursing News — while nearly the same percentage have seen family members take their loved ones out of the nursing home setting due to COVID-19 fears. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Salmon Health Begins Transferring Residents to Create Dedicated COVID-19 Skilled Nursing Facility

The office of Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday announced several initiatives to combat the COVID-19 crisis in the Bay State — one of which includes setting up skilled nursing facilities dedicated to caring for patients who have the disease. The first of these facilities, Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center in Worcester, Mass., operated […]

Some Managed Care Plans Lift Restrictions on Skilled Nursing Coverage Amid COVID-19 — But Not All

Multiple managed care plans have made changes to their procedures for admissions to the skilled nursing setting amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with several major companies suspending prior authorization requirements for admissions to a skilled nursing facility. The changes, however, are not uniform — and that’s if the managed care organization (MCO) chooses to make […]

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 […]

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 […]

What Nursing Homes Need to Know as CMS Cracks Down on Infection Control

With the federal government cracking down on nursing home infection control policies based on the initial coronavirus outbreak at a Washington state facility, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rolled out a self-assessment tool for nursing home leadership to proactively monitor safety in place. “Nursing home residents and their families who want to […]

‘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 […]