A new piece of legislation before Congress would expand nursing homes’ ability to perform detailed background checks on potential employees, according to its sponsor. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, earlier this week announced a bill to improve health care worker hiring practices in an effort to reduce elder abuse. The initiative — known […]
AHCA
The 11th episode of our podcast, Rethink, is now available! Between the release of a “secret” list of underperforming nursing homes and multiple hearings on Capitol Hill, the skilled nursing industry has found itself under the regulatory and media microscope for most of 2019. And for the most part, Mark Parkinson thinks that’s a good […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) explicitly pointed to the potential for therapy fraud under its old rules while rolling out its updated payment structure for nursing homes — and the head of a leading trade group says that’s a slap in the face to the industry. Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of […]
Early reactions to the finalized skilled nursing payment rules from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are in, with one leading provider group issuing a stark warning about the days ahead. “While the skilled nursing profession welcomes a new payment model, we are concerned with the language in this rule about the Patient-Driven […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) shook the skilled nursing world last week by rolling out a proposal for a new payment model, replacing the structure that the industry had been anticipating for a year. But several experts say that operators should look at the changes as positive updates made with providers in […]
Kentucky took a tentative step toward tort reform by implementing a medical review panel law last year, but its most recent attempt faces a significant uphill battle in a state that has seen major skilled nursing operators blame lawsuits for struggles in recent months. The goal of Senate Bill 2, sponsored by a group of […]
The most recent report from the Medicare Payment Advisory commission (MedPAC) claims that skilled nursing reimbursements are too high, but one leading trade group says MedPAC’s own numbers paint a much bleaker picture. Data in the report showed that the total margins for freestanding skilled nursing facilities were 0.7% in 2016, down from 1.6% in 2015. […]
Not allowing post-acute care (PAC) providers to take the lead in the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced) program will hamstring the government’s ability to improve savings and care, several associations argued in a letter to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). LeadingAge and other prominent long-term care associations raised concerns about […]
Depending on whose earnings call you happened to catch this season, the predicted surge in demand for skilled nursing services is just around the corner — or it isn’t coming at all. At Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE: OHI), management enlisted the services of two consulting firms to crunch the numbers on demographic trends over the […]
A landmark law in New York State could present additional challenges for skilled nursing providers, but major industry trade groups say that the potential benefits for residents could outweigh the staffing stress. Late last year, the Empire State passed a sweeping law that will require nurses to obtain Bachelor’s of Science in nursing degrees within […]
UPDATE: The Senate’s spending bill has passed both houses of Congress, and President Trump signed it into law Friday morning. Should the Senate’s attempt at passing a two-year budget succeed, skilled nursing operators could be in for another serious financial hit. “We are disappointed that the Senate budget proposal includes a $2 billion cut to […]
Human Rights Watch (HRW), a non-governmental organization that publishes reports and briefings on human rights conditions in about 90 countries, on Monday released a report estimating that more than 179,000 people in U.S. nursing facilities are inappropriately given antipsychotic drugs. “The drugs’ use as a chemical restraint — for staff convenience or to discipline or […]
For some, any press is good press. But this phrase isn’t true for the skilled nursing and senior care space, which is facing a wave of negative media attention — including a damning article in Time Magazine that brought to light major concerns of abusive behavior toward residents and binding arbitration contracts that left some […]
A judge has ruled that Florida Gov. Rick Scott cannot order skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) or assisted living communities to install generators, citing lack of emergency conditions. Administrative Law Judge Garnett Chisenhall of Florida’s Division of Administrative Hearings invalidated the rule on Oct. 27 on the grounds that Scott “failed to demonstrate the existence of an immediate […]
Skilled nursing facility (SNF) operators and industry advocates are urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to change a rule related to the way hospital stays are classified. The Observation Stays Coalition—a group formed in 2010 that includes organizations such as the American Health Care Association (AHCA) and AARP—is leading the charge against the […]
Skilled nursing providers are trying to understand the details of sweeping new Medicare requirements and survey process changes. But SNFs should not get so preoccupied with the finer points that they lose sight of the fundamental goals that the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) intends to achieve with the updates. “The main point […]
Arbitration agreements between skilled nursing operators and residents have become a key battleground in the long-term care space, as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) seeks to roll back an Obama-era regulation that would have banned them. But the fight over arbitration clauses — which prevent parties from seeking legal remedies from disputes […]
Beatitudes, a life plan community in Phoenix, Arizona, has become well known for how it provides dementia care, with articles appearing in The New York Times and other publications. That comfort-first approach is spreading throughout the country, with providers seeing better resident outcomes and operational performance in the model. Three not-for-profit New York City communities—Cobble […]
Fresh off a battle that nearly saw wholesale changes to the Medicaid program, skilled nursing lobbyists say the work isn’t over — and that operators on the front lines can often be the most effective voices in reaching Washington. One of the primary reasons that Congress came so close to gutting Medicaid as part of […]
This year might have presented the hardest operating environment ever for skilled nursing operators, American Health Care Association (AHCA) President and CEO Mark Parkinson said this week at the organization’s annual conference in Las Vegas. Favorable demographics ultimately will be a boon to the sector, but in the meantime, there are some strategies that can […]
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