CMS, CDC Again Ask States to Take Lead on Nursing Home COVID-19 Testing as Strategies Could Soon Shift

As part of the federal government’s push toward stricter infection control protocols in nursing homes, officials this week again called on states to take the lead on COVID-19 testing — while also acknowledging that blanket testing strategies may need to change as infection patterns continue to diverge. Each state must draw up its own testing […]

‘Talk to Your Governor’ Not Enough to Support Nursing Homes as Value of One-Time Testing Comes into Question

Senior housing and care leaders again called on the federal government to more aggressively bankroll COVID-19 testing in the nation’s nursing homes, arguing that the burden will be ongoing — especially since an already expensive one-time testing strategy may not be an instant cure-all. Given recommendations from the White House and Centers for Medicare & […]

Under Interim Final Rule, Mandatory COVID-19 Reporting for Nursing Homes to Begin This Week

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Friday released an interim final rule that, among other provisions, will require nursing homes to begin reporting detailed COVID-19 information to the federal government this week. While CMS and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) had previously announced the requirement — after weeks of […]

Senators Demand Public List of Nursing Homes with Positive COVID-19 Cases

A pair of U.S. senators this week demanded that federal officials release a public list of all the nursing homes that have reported positive COVID-19 cases, arguing that the information is vital to preventing the spread of the virus. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator Seema Verma pegged the number of facilities with […]

As Nursing Homes with Cases Reach 400, AHCA Advises Operators to Assume All Untested Patients Positive for COVID-19

One of the country’s major nursing home trade groups is advising its members to assume that unless a person has tested negative for COVID-19 prior to admission, that patient has the virus. This is regardless of whether or not they have symptoms, according to guidance from the American Health Care Association (AHCA) released on Monday. […]

CDC: Sharing Staffers Among Multiple Nursing Homes Hastened Coronavirus Spread

A preliminary analysis from the federal government concluded that the sharing of staff members among multiple nursing homes — along with employees continuing to work while sick — helped to hasten the spread of the novel coronavirus in Washington state. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed the timeline of a COVID-19 outbreak […]

CMS Releases Updated Visitation, Citation Guidance for Nursing Homes Amid Coronavirus Spread

UPDATE, Saturday, March 14: Since this article was published, the federal government has implemented stricter guidance for nursing home visits, effectively banning all non-essential visitors with very limited exceptions. Read about the most up-to-date guidance here. The federal government late Monday released an updated set of guidelines for nursing home operators amid the growing spread […]

Bacteria Has Nursing Home Facing Down a $278M Fix

A recurring Legionnaires’ disease outbreak at an Illinois nursing home for veterans has caused deaths, lawsuits, and political trouble for Gov. Bruce Rauner. And now a preliminary report shows that fixing the problem at the Illinois Veterans Home at Quincy could stick the state with a hefty bill. Task forces convened by the Rauner administration […]

Top 10 States for Aging, Mapped

High-quality nursing homes and a healthy senior population have made Colorado, Maine and Hawaii the best states in the U.S. for growing old, according to new rankings from U.S. News & World Report. To come up with its rankings, U.S. News examined the 50 states across 12 metrics using data from sources such as the Kaiser […]