Senators Blast Nursing Homes’ Staffing Proposal in Finance Meeting, Citing Lack of Funding, Staff

Some Republican senators blasted the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) minimum staffing proposal for nursing homes in a recent finance committee meeting, noting the paltry $75 million to bolster staffing isn’t enough to support upcoming regulations. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) pointed out that four of five facilities won’t be able to comply with […]

Nursing Homes See Highest Cost Increase in 2023 Driven By Worker Shortage

Inflation and the shortage of skilled care workers were the main drivers of increases in the rising costs of long-term care services in 2023, with skilled nursing rooms posting the highest increase. Genworth’s latest Cost of Care Survey released Tuesday found that since 2022, the national annual median cost of a semi-private room in a […]

‘Feel Like a Risk’: Nursing Home Operators Appear To Reduce Wage Increases Compared to 2023

Labor costs continue to be top of mind for nursing home operators as the workforce shortage persists and operators anticipate the finalized version of the federal minimum staffing rule. Operators reported average wage increases for their employees of 4.43% in 2023, dropping to 3.64% thus far for 2024, according to the Ziegler CFO Hotline survey […]

Final Rule on Nursing Home Staffing and Transparency Moves To Next Stage Ahead of Biden’s State of the Union

Ahead of President Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday, a final rule mandating staffing limits and calling for greater Medicaid payment transparency was submitted for regulatory review to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). And while in addressing the joint session of Congress, Biden failed to mention the reforms contained in the rule […]

House Advances Legislation To Block Nursing Home Federal Staffing Proposal 

Legislation to block the federal minimum staffing proposal for nursing homes reached a milestone today, passing in the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee. The Protecting America’s Seniors’ Access to Care Act (H.R. 7513) was first introduced by Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-MN) and would prevent the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from finalizing […]

More Than Two-Thirds of Nursing Homes Fear Closures as Almost All Cite Challenges Recruiting Staff

Despite ongoing investments from operators, the nursing home industry is struggling to rebuild its workforce and recover from the pandemic. Meanwhile, operators are concerned that the federal minimum staffing proposal, once finalized, will make operational challenges worse even as nursing homes limit admissions and are concerned about closures. Such findings were outlined in the American […]

Sabra’s Matros Says No ‘False Guardrails’ Around M&A Pipeline, Potential Skilled Nursing Deals

The year ahead for Sabra Health Care REIT (Nasdaq: SBRA) presents a “terrific” opportunity for improved margins and potential dealmaking, with eyes on multiple asset classes, according to Sabra CEO Rick Matros. While the California-based real estate investment trust (REIT) has focused in the past couple years on diversifying its portfolio – namely adding behavioral […]

Operators Applaud State’s Efforts To Drastically Reduce Nursing Home Survey Backlog Via Third Parties

Survey backlogs have caused headaches for nursing homes, and Delaware is one state that is using third party contractors to successfully drastically reduce the backlog in a move that is being applauded by nursing home operators. Delaware contracted with Healthcare Management Solutions to help clear its backlog of nursing home and assisted living surveys, doubling […]

PACS Starts Next Chapter With New Leaders, 200-Plus Facility Footprint

Following significant leadership changes recently at PACS Group, new initiatives are afoot at the nursing home giant as it continues to expand its footprint. To discuss these endeavors, Skilled Nursing News sat down with the new leadership at PACS, whose affiliates operate more than 200 facilities in nine states – 58 of these acquired in […]

Nursing Home Care Prices Grow Faster Than Other Health Care Services Amid Job Growth Lag

Pricing for nursing home care continued to grow the fastest in the first month of 2024 compared to other major health care categories, jumping by 4.9% in January, as wages grew but job growth lagged. That’s according to Altarum’s Health Sector Economic Indicators (HSEI) Briefs published on Tuesday. Nursing home care was among service prices […]

AHCA CEO Parkinson to Retire in 2025, Search on for Successor

Mark Parkinson, CEO and president of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), on Tuesday announced plans for retirement after 13 years with the association, and leading its members through the pandemic. Parkinson plans to stay on until Jan. 15 of next year, as the association launches its search for […]

‘Elephant in the Room’: Medicare Advantage a Huge Factor in CCRC Decision Making Around Nursing Home Services

Soaring costs associated with skilled nursing – and problematic payer sources – are making it harder for continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) to provide such labor intensive post-acute care. CCRCs have to ask themselves some hard questions when it comes to what services they can reasonably offer, and if it’s worth it to keep open […]

States Where Nursing Homes Used the Most Agency Nursing Staff in 2022

Vermont, New York and Maryland led the nation in terms of the share of nursing homes utilizing agency nursing staff in 2022. That’s according to a Health Affairs report published Wednesday. The study authors compared free-standing nursing homes’ usage of agency staff in the years leading up to Covid-19 with usage of agency staff during […]

Marcum: Fines Cost Nursing Home Sector $560M as Volume Quadruples in Post-Pandemic Era

The volume of non-compliant fines quadrupled in the post-pandemic period between 2020 and 2022, with a staggering 36,370 such fines being issued to nursing homes, costing the industry a total of $560 million nationwide, according to the 2024 Marcum Three-Year Nursing Home Statistical Review. The high cost to the sector from fines was despite the […]

Burnout, Permanent Exit From Nursing Home Workforce Fed by Rigid Schedules

Over one-third of healthcare workers, including nursing home workers, have needed to take a break at some point. These pauses, often driven by burnout and overscheduling, exacerbate the already significant workforce shortages plaguing the industry because many workers leave the workforce permanently. According to a new report from ShiftKey released Tuesday, of particular concern is […]

Omega Exec: CMS Staffing Mandate Casts Shadow Over Improving Nursing Home Fundamentals

As Omega Healthcare Investors Inc. (NYSE: OHI) advanced on its restructuring efforts at 2023’s end, company executives said that they were finally able to have a better grasp on their outlook for 2024. And, while the company’s current fundamentals were looking strong, the looming federal staffing mandate might obscure the path forward for the sector […]

AHCA’s Clif Porter: Nursing Home Staffing Proposal May Be Finalized in Summer, Felt Like an Unpleasant ‘Bucket of Cold Water’

CMS isn’t expected to finalize the minimum staffing proposal until the summer at the earliest, with the agency having to wade through more than 40,000 comments before moving forward with the rule. The voices of skilled nursing providers, along with coalition partners like the American Hospital Association, will hopefully have been heard by CMS and […]