The U.S. regulatory process for skilled nursing facilities needs to be overhauled to focus on outcomes, Seema Verma, the outgoing administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), argued in an opinion piece published January 8. “Despite nursing homes receiving infection control guidance, government-funded testing, training, supplies, staffing, and over $7 billion in […]
Category: Medicare
The proportion of skilled nursing facilities that earned incentive bonuses under an alternative Medicare payment model dropped in fiscal 2020, with the vast majority of properties either losing money or breaking even. Sixty-five percent of SNFs saw negative adjustments under the SNF Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) program, according to a new analysis published this week in […]
The new spending bill passed by Congress on Monday night, which includes $900 billion in COVID-19 relief, also contains some respite for cuts to Medicare Part B that posed a significant threat to therapy operations in skilled nursing facilities. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 is now awaiting President Trump’s signature, and it includes a […]
Each year, Skilled Nursing News uses the end of December to look back on the stories that shaped the previous 12 months. In the past, the exercise has occasionally revealed a few forgotten surprises from the year that was, though SNN’s lists of most-read stories often have a recurring theme. For the past two years, […]
The growth in U.S. spending on nursing home care lagged behind gains in overall health expenditures — as well as the increase in cash spent on care at home and in hospitals — according to the most recent update to an annual analysis of American health care costs. The United States spent a collective $172.2 […]
The federal government on Wednesday announced an expansion of the third phase of COVID-19 relief for health care providers, specifically releasing an extra $1.1 billion to nursing homes. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) decided to boost its Phase 3 funding total from $20 billion to $24 billion after determining that the initial […]
When Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL) and health system ProMedica teamed up to take over nursing home giant HCR ManorCare in 2018, the players positioned the move as a way to vertically integrate a continuum that could follow a patient from the hospital, to a skilled nursing facility, to home health. The real estate investment trust […]
The federal government last week advised nursing homes that a variety of COVID-related freezes on updates to the public Nursing Home Compare database will end soon after the start of the new year. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on January 27 will update quality and health inspection metrics on the consumer-facing resource, […]
President-elect Joe Biden has selected Xavier Becerra, the current attorney general of California and a critic of President Trump’s nursing home policies, to helm the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the incoming administration, the New York Times reported Sunday. Prior to serving as California’s top prosecutor, Becerra represented the Los Angeles area […]
California emerged as an early COVID-19 hotspot when the coronavirus first emerged in the U.S., and for skilled nursing facilities in the Golden State, the pandemic hit particularly hard. As a result, local health officials at both the state and county levels were looking for ways to combat the anticipated need — and they turned […]
A member of a federal advisory board on Medicare policy last week recommended against a payment boost for nursing homes, concluding that despite the negative effects of COVID-19, operators have maintained steady access to capital — and generally make too high of a margin on Medicare-covered residents. “Even with increased costs, Medicare payments are more […]
The new Medicare payment model for nursing homes provided $200 more per day than the system it replaced in October 2019, according to a new analysis of claims data — setting up a revenue bump at the time the sector needed it most. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) brought an average […]
Occupancy at the nation’s skilled nursing facilities remains stalled well below pre-pandemic levels, prompting a major data provider in the space to sound alarm bells about the financial state of the space heading into a potentially devastating winter. The nation’s SNFs were 74% full during the third quarter of 2020, the National Investment Center for […]
The federal government on Tuesday finalized its proposed physician fee schedule for the 2021 calendar year, formalizing cuts to Medicare reimbursement rates for therapy services provided to residents covered under Part B — while also expanding some telehealth flexibilities offered during COVID-19. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in August floated a 9% […]
The end is near for the older version of the federal government’s primary consumer-focused nursing home resource. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will formally phase out its eight original Compare tools — including Nursing Home Compare — on December 1 in favor of its new unified Care Compare site. CMS unveiled the […]
The skilled nursing sector has been roiled by the pandemic, but it’s also proven itself to be a critical part of the care continuum for patients coming out of a hospital stay. For Rick Matros, the CEO of the Irvine, Ca.-based real estate investment trust Sabra Health Care REIT (Nasdaq: SBRA), that won’t necessarily be […]
Nursing home and senior living providers in the not-for-profit sector are facing significant strains from the surge in COVID-19 nationwide. Leading into the Thanksgiving holiday, operators are pleading with those in the community to refrain from gathering amid challenges both operational and financial. “Nursing homes really are at the brink,” Deke Cateau, the CEO of […]
When elective surgeries were halted or suspended in spring in an attempt to preserve hospital capacity, the number of patients leaving the hospital setting dropped significantly — and the number of patients leaving that setting for skilled nursing fell by nearly half as well. A new analysis of all Medicare fee-for-service claims data from January […]
The federal government has talked a big game about shifting toward value-based payments for Medicare and Medicaid providers, but fee-for-service reimbursements have remained a primary force governing operations in the post-acute and long-term care sector. COVID-19 has subtly shifted that dynamic, however — especially in the field of telemedicine, which has seen skyrocketing adoption rates […]
Invesque Inc. (TSE: IVQ.U) this week reported significant COVID-19 strains on a pair of its post-acute care tenants, with the skilled nursing landlord taking steps to reduce its exposure to Symphony Care Network and reporting no revenue from Bridgemoor Transitional Care. The real estate investment firm will either sell or transition operations at half of […]
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