The federal government this week amended its rules for how providers can use coronavirus relief funding, specifically removing limitations around covering lost revenues not directly related to COVID-19. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the change in the wake of criticism from providers and some lawmakers. “In response to concerns raised, HHS […]
The final report from the Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes contained plenty of ideas on how to keep residents and staff safer should COVID-19 resurge or if another pandemic hits the United States. While some of the onus falls on the federal government, nursing home operators must also raise the bar […]
A recent Skilled Nursing News survey of nursing home operators found cautious optimism about the near-term future of the space, with a majority seeing a clear path to the future even without additional government support. At the same time, operators have largely been pouring that federal largesse — including CARES Act grants, Payroll Protection Program […]
The federal government last week tapped a pair of retail pharmacy giants to distribute an eventual COVID-19 vaccine to nursing home residents across the country, and while there remain significant questions about the logistics of distributing an as-yet-unapproved vaccine, officials have continued to position the plan as the only workable solution to a massive public […]
Millions in payments made to a chain of nursing homes in the state of Georgia could be clawed back by the federal government, after an attempt to make use of a program to bolster Medicaid rates came under intense scrutiny. The investigation by Georgia Health News and ProPublica examined how the use of the upper […]
The head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Monday that the agency is withdrawing a controversial rule intended to overhaul Medicaid supplemental payments — a rule that could have put as much as $50 billion in jeopardy. “We’ve listened closely to concerns that have been raised by our state and provider […]
As COVID-19 continues to bring sickness and death to American nursing homes, Harvard University professor David Grabowski has become one of the most-quoted experts on the steps that operators and the government should take to stem the tide. But as the summer turns to fall during a pandemic that started in late winter, the long-term […]
Billions of federal stimulus dollars have kept the skilled nursing sector afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic, but as the most recent distributions hit operators’ bank accounts, storm clouds are still gathering in the distance. While nursing home operators may have been spared the immediate financial woes that hit businesses in a variety of other sectors, […]
The leader of the largest trade group for U.S. nursing homes on Thursday advised operators to exceed new federal COVID-19 testing mandates whenever possible, while emphasizing the importance of planning for complying with the new regulations as soon as next week. “I would be testing, once a week, all staff. I would be doing that […]
The president and CEO of the largest nursing home operator in the state of Indiana will resign at the end of next month, marking another milestone in a long-running controversy over complex programs that boost Medicaid rates for nursing facilities in states across the country. Matthew Gutwein of the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion […]
A few weeks after the nation’s top Medicare official pointed to persistent infection control problems as a major driver of rising COVID-19 cases in nursing homes, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Tuesday introduced new online training resources for frontline staffers and management. Officials based the new “CMS Targeted COVID-19 Training for […]
The state of Washington is cutting back on the increase it provided to Medicaid reimbursement to nursing homes, a move that drew sharp criticism from nursing home trade groups and advocates. The news was first reported by NBC affiliate KING 5 in Washington on August 21. As part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act […]
The federal government on Friday announced that it has handed out $15 million in civil monetary penalties (CMPs) to about 3,400 nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. That total includes about $10 million in fines stemming from targeted infection control surveys, and $5.5 million assessed to operators that failed to report COVID-19 data as required […]
The federal government’s latest targeted coronavirus aid for nursing homes will consist of four separate programs, with a significant portion of the $5 billion price tag doled out based on operators’ performance in monthly value-based competitions. Of that pledged total, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will distribute half — or $2.5 billion […]
The federal government has opened its coffers of COVID-19 relief funds to the operators of facilities that changed hands in the months leading up to the coronavirus pandemic, but the window to strike is small. In the name of expediency, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rushed out relief dollars to health care […]
The exact prescription for reforming the nursing home landscape depends largely on who you ask. An executive in the space could give you a wildly different answer than a geriatrician, and both may not agree with the perspective of federal regulators. But Dr. Michael Wasserman has held roles across all those domains, and he has […]
The average total margin for freestanding nursing homes dropped to -0.3% in 2018, according to a new report from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) — the first time that group found a negative overall margin since 1999. That said, Medicare revenue remained relatively strong in 2018, the most recent year for which data was […]
The federal government’s top Medicare official this week emphasized a desire to work closely with leaders in the nursing home landscape, pointing to industry feedback as a key driver behind a sweeping plan to send point-of-care COVID-19 testing units to the nation’s nursing facilities. “CMS obviously has a regulatory function with nursing homes,” Centers for […]
A slew of governmental and health care organizations called on the federal government to boost its share of Medicaid support — and to revoke a controversial proposed rule that would have overhauled how some states drew down federal dollars. The organizations — which represent political officials from the local to the state level and care […]
Occupancy at the nation’s skilled nursing facilities slid to 78.9% during the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in April, according to the most recent set of data from the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC). That figure compares to 84.4% occupancy in April 2019, and 84.7% in February, before the novel […]