A battle is underway in Wisconsin over whether pandemic relief funds can be diverted to increase Medicaid reimbursements to long-term care providers. Gov. Tony Evers recently proposed using $258 million in pandemic relief to increase Medicaid reimbursements for long-term care providers, a move previously blocked by a Republican budget-writing committee, according to Wisconsin Public Radio. […]
Category: Staffing
As the newly announced Democratic vice-presidential pick, Tim Walz brings a record of supporting nursing homes from his tenure as Minnesota’s governor. As governor since 2019, Walz demonstrated a strong commitment to the sector by securing $173 million in funding to nursing homes and long-term care facilities in August 2023. This financial support was directed […]
In the past year, Missouri has made significant strides in reducing its backlog of overdue nursing home inspections, providing a potentially instructive model for other states grappling with similar challenges. According to recent data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the percentage of nursing homes in Missouri that had not been inspected […]
A federal court awarded $35.8 million in back wages and damages to 6,000 current and former workers of Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services, as a result of one of the largest Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) judgments in the nation. Comprehensive, which operates 15 skilled nursing facilities in Pennsylvania, willfully denied workers overtime pay, a U.S. […]
Deal opportunities continue to be abundant for the Ensign Group (Nasdaq: ENSG), and leaders for the nursing home giant also are more confident that the federal nursing home staffing mandate is doomed. While announcing strong quarterly results and increased guidance, Ensign executives stated that the typical seasonal trends of depressed summertime occupancy and skilled mix […]
Meticulous documentation is the name of the game for nursing home operators looking to keep up with Minimum Data Set (MDS) changes and maintaining a good rating in the Five-Star Quality Rating System. This is especially because inaccurate or insufficient data could affect a facility for at least a year in the future. Leaders in […]
Following President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, leaders in the nursing home space say there likely won’t be any change to the federal minimum staffing mandate or lawsuit given an ongoing strong connection with unions. Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to run in his place. On Monday, Harris […]
Many nursing home operators in the past year have been in rebuilding mode, bolstering staff and reworking systems to fit better in a post-pandemic world. Principle LTC has been doing much the same in developing programs offered to help employees in crisis or those who want to further their education. But, it’s going to take […]
In an era when surveys – and delay in surveys – have been the cause for much stress among nursing home operators, a sometimes undervalued and overlooked strategy to minimize survey risk involves operators developing strong relationships with their state survey agencies. That’s certainly an easier task compared to getting approval from national agencies like […]
The relationship between different nursing home staffing types and health outcomes is incredibly nuanced, and as operators grapple with optimizing the clinical workforce in the aftermath of the staffing mandate, researchers in the space say more study is needed to really understand the correlation between roles and quality measures. According to a July study published […]
The national Medicare Advantage beneficiary admissions to nursing homes increased by 21.2% in 2021, and Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) admissions in the sector decreased by 13.8% between 2022 and 2023. Trella Health captured this data in its post-acute care industry trend report for 2024, confirming what the industry has been saying about the rise of MA […]
Challenging times facing nursing homes in Kansas are emblematic of the national trend caused by staffing shortages. About one-fourth of nursing homes in Kansas have been labeled ‘problem’ facilities – that’s about 77 of the state’s 306 buildings. About six in 10 of Kansas nursing homes are owned by for-profit companies; three-fourths of the troubled […]
The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) on Tuesday announced the appointment of Clifton J. Porter II as the new president and CEO of the association, effective this fall. Porter will be the first African American to fill the role in AHCA/NCAL’s 75-year history. He currently serves as the senior […]
Nursing home advocacy groups and congressional insiders are reportedly exploring the reversal of President Biden’s nursing home staffing rule as a potential budgetary maneuver, according to news reports. Axios is reporting that there are currently discussions taking place on Capitol Hill regarding reversing the staffing rule in order to help pay for “a year-end health […]
Five states have enacted some of the nation’s toughest minimum staffing standards for nursing homes, and yet gaps in actual care persist, a new analysis released Friday reveals, raising questions about whether the federal staffing rule will in the end be able to achieve its intended goal. The analysis by KFF Health News, focuses on […]
As regulatory, operational and legal risks abound for nursing home operators, strong relationships with commercial insurance carriers and brokers continue to be key in countering costs. Operators facing higher insurance premiums and greater administrative burdens have turned to using strong commercial insurance risk management companies as well as data-driven solutions that factor in the new […]
Behind the success of PACS Group’s (NYSE: PACS) high-growth model is the nursing home giant’s principle of entrusting its early career administrators with greater autonomy. In rejecting the traditional path, PACS allows administrators in training the opportunity to step into their roles with greater independence much earlier. Enabling new leaders to make crucial decisions and […]
The Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition received a $1.69 million grant to support nursing home staff and improve resident quality of life. The funds were provided by The John A. Hartford Foundation (JAHF). In a press release issued Monday, the Coalition said that over the next three years, it plans to use the funds […]
The new facility assessment requirements that federal agencies are expecting will guide decisions on staffing levels are also garnering concerns about potential administrative and financial burdens, particularly for smaller-sized nursing home chains. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) modified the existing requirements in late June, issuing expanded guidance to include metrics that are […]
Democratic lawmakers Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Jan Schakowsky are criticizing the nursing home sector’s main trade associations for their opposition to the federal government’s minimum staffing mandate, calling their role an attempt to “sabotage” improvements in care. The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) and LeadingAge, representing thousands of […]
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