Seema Verma on Tuesday laid out a sweeping plan for data-driven oversight and enforcement across the health care spectrum, and took a similarly broad view of her agency’s regulatory plans when directly asked about potential changes to the new Medicare payment model for nursing homes. Specifically citing the early success of the agency’s recent push […]
As the skilled nursing industry struggles to adapt to a new Medicare payment landscape, in-house Medicare Advantage plans have emerged as one of the hottest topics among leaders — while the space’s publicly traded behemoth has thrown its full support behind the separate accountable care organization (ACO) model. There may not be one set answer […]
The federal government on Thursday issued a proposed rule that would extend the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) bundled-payment model for an additional three years — while also expanding its reach to include outpatient procedures. Initially set to expire on December 31, CJR would remain active through the end of 2023 if the Centers […]
Guardian Elder Care, a nursing home operator with more than 50 buildings, will pay $15.5 million to resolve federal accusations of medically inappropriate therapy practices, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday. The Brockway, Pa.-based Guardian faced allegations — brought by a pair of former employees — that the company pressured therapists to perform unnecessary services […]
The head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) touted the agency’s changes around enforcement of quality and safety standards in a blog post published on Tuesday, as part of a series on its five-part strategy to improve care in nursing homes across the country. The strategy’s components include: strengthening oversight, enhancing enforcement, […]
Despite steady reports of increasing reimbursements under the new Medicare payment model for nursing homes, at least one industry leader believes that the federal government will be happy with the early returns — and that any changes are fairly far down the road. Skilled nursing operators have not gone overboard with the strategy changes that […]
A group of 27 U.S. representatives asked the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to rethink a proposal restricting Medicaid supplemental payments — claiming enforcement will lead to decreased services and fewer available nursing home beds. The controversial proposed rule, the Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation (MFAR), would bring tighter regulations to state-based Medicaid supplemental […]
Skilled nursing giant HCR ManorCare outperformed projections in its first full year as a tenant of Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL), the real estate investment trust (REIT) announced Thursday, and could soon expand its footprint to include partnerships with health systems outside of its current orbit. “[The] ManorCare portfolio did not hit our expectation; it exceeded […]
As nursing homes’ operating margins dwindle due to insufficient Medicaid reimbursements, one state task force is encouraging lower performing facilities to simply shut down — and make more room for the remaining properties to grab a piece of a shrinking pie. The Nursing Facility Task Force of Massachusetts released a report declaring that the state […]
Since the landmark passage of a sweeping oversight bill in the late 1980s, hundreds of nursing homes have closed — while those that remained have increasingly taken on more difficult medical cases, according to new research from Brown University. The analysis, which focused on the effects of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA […]
It’s four months into the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM), and despite some industry analysts pointing to early gains for nursing homes, many occupational, speech, and physical therapy advocates continue to criticize layoffs and changes to resident care patterns. On the operational side, the initial PDPM returns have been positive: For instance, 67% of nursing homes […]
The Trump administration’s proposed fiscal 2021 budget, released Monday, put a price tag on a long-floated plan to unify Medicare reimbursements for post-acute services under a single, site-agnostic system: more than $101 billion over a decade. “The budget prioritizes use of the trust funds to pay for seniors’ healthcare and incentivizes quality and efficiency in […]
Both the skilled nursing and home health spaces are in the midst of shifts to new Medicare payment models, and despite widespread reports of therapy layoffs at nursing homes, a leading player in the home care space says it isn’t necessarily targeting the cohort of available therapists. Encompass Health Corporation (NYSE: EHC) has been monitoring […]
After multiple quarters of struggles with operator Daybreak Venture, Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE: OHI) on Thursday announced a plan to largely purge the provider’s buildings from its portfolio. “During the course of the next several quarters, Omega anticipates transitioning, either through re-leases or sales, the vast majority of Daybreak’s existing Omega facilities,” chief operating officer […]
A group of 99 U.S. representatives, consisting of both Republicans and Democrats, this week asked the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for more information about a rule that could have a major impact on nursing home residents who receive therapy services. Under the 2020 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule, CMS implemented a […]
The Ensign Group (Nasdaq: ENSG) on Thursday announced that its skilled nursing facilities have seen rate increases of up to 6% under the new Medicare payment model, in part helping to drive the post-acute leader to another set of record earnings. The company’s established same-store facilities achieved those 6% gains, while Ensign’s transitioning facilities — […]
Once wary of accountable care organizations (ACOs) and other new payment models, nursing home owners and operators are beginning to turn in favor of these value-based care structures — in the hopes of gaining leverage in a complex skilled nursing market burdened by high costs of care and staffing pressures. And although the push to […]
Just three months after the nursing home world saw a new Medicare payment model take effect, the home health industry dealt with its own sea change: the Patient-Driven Groupings Model. For most SNFs, the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) is top of mind, as they work out the new system for their own Medicare reimbursement change. […]
Creating or joining an independent practice association (IPA) empowers providers to negotiate managed care plan services and rates, a potential game-changer for nursing home owners amidst Medicare Advantage headaches — pains that include shorter lengths of stay, or the elimination of skilled nursing stays altogether in favor of home care. Providers might opt into an […]
The accountable care organization (ACO) has earned itself something of a bad reputation in certain corners of the skilled nursing world, but leaders who read SNN revealed an increasing willingness to work with the groups — instead of getting left behind. That’s just one of the many takeaways from our annual reader survey, which SNN […]
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