The vaccine is working, especially in places where it is needed the most, according to a new study. “The vaccine is associated with decreased spread of SARS-CoV-2 in both residents and staff at nursing homes as well as decreased deaths among residents,” the study, published last week in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society, […]
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is now requiring long-term care facilities to report the weekly COVID-19 vaccination status of residents and staff, with the goal of monitoring vaccine uptake and identifying facilities in need of resources or assistance to respond to the pandemic. The interim final rule, announced Tuesday, will require long-term […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on April 8 that it is ending several emergency regulatory waivers that were designed to give nursing homes flexibility in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic — specifically related to patient transfers and discharges, as well as the timeframe requirements for completing and transmitting a patient’s Minimum […]
Over the course of 2020, as skilled nursing facilities battled the COVID-19 pandemic, the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) was one of the bright spots for operators, allowing them to secure payments for caring for the clinical needs of patients at a time when those needs grew markedly more complex. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid […]
Good infection control standards are the same for skilled nursing facilities across the U.S. — both in the sense of federally mandated requirements, and in the sense of the concrete conditions that are necessary to prevent the spread of contamination. This was true even before a pandemic that shook the world in 2020, with ongoing […]
Occupancy at the nation’s nursing homes cratered during the COVID-19 pandemic, as hospitals suspended non-emergency surgeries and families looked to avoid institutional care settings for their loved ones at all costs. During the initial coronavirus wave last spring, leaders in the sector hoped that the second half of 2020 would bring a return to normalcy […]
The AARP Foundation and the law firm Constance Cannon filed a lawsuit against the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and outgoing Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Alex Azar, alleging that the federal government put nursing home residents’ lives in danger by weakening enforcement of monetary penalties for nursing homes. The […]
When the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in skilled nursing facilities became apparent after the first major outbreak in the state Washington, dire predictions for the sector were immediate. Most of those fears, clinically speaking, were borne out horrifically over the course of 2020. But while surveys have found plummeting occupancy and significant numbers of […]
The U.S. regulatory process for skilled nursing facilities needs to be overhauled to focus on outcomes, Seema Verma, the outgoing administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), argued in an opinion piece published January 8. “Despite nursing homes receiving infection control guidance, government-funded testing, training, supplies, staffing, and over $7 billion in […]
The growth in U.S. spending on nursing home care lagged behind gains in overall health expenditures — as well as the increase in cash spent on care at home and in hospitals — according to the most recent update to an annual analysis of American health care costs. The United States spent a collective $172.2 […]
The federal government on Tuesday finalized its proposed physician fee schedule for the 2021 calendar year, formalizing cuts to Medicare reimbursement rates for therapy services provided to residents covered under Part B — while also expanding some telehealth flexibilities offered during COVID-19. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in August floated a 9% […]
Some aspects of the nursing home world do not change even during a global pandemic, and that includes the need to manage relationships with multiple payers. Several managed care organizations (MCOs) are now sending in their new contracts to skilled nursing providers as old agreements expire, Chad Bogar, the founder and CEO of the law […]
The discussion of how to improve nursing homes, especially in the wake of the still-unfolding COVID-19 tragedy, tends to divide observers into two broad camps: the industry partisans who call for more collaboration from the federal government and better funding, and the sharp critics who insist regulation should primarily — if not exclusively — take […]
The end is near for the older version of the federal government’s primary consumer-focused nursing home resource. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will formally phase out its eight original Compare tools — including Nursing Home Compare — on December 1 in favor of its new unified Care Compare site. CMS unveiled the […]
The federal government’s top health care watchdog last week announced a plan to investigate whether nursing homes are following rules around discharges, specifically citing media reports about improper evictions from facilities. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) added a probe of facility-initiated discharges to its formal work […]
The federal government this week announced that Medicare will cover a recently approved antibody treatment for COVID-19 in a range of settings, including nursing homes. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday cleared on an emergency basis the use of bamlanivimab — a monoclonial antibody infusion — for adults with mild to moderate cases of COVID-19. […]
The nation’s top Medicare and Medicaid official this week called on states to boost their home- and community-based services for the elderly, arguing that the impact of COVID-19 on nursing homes has exposed a key flaw in the overall system. “The COVID-19 crisis has shone a harsh light on the human costs of a long-term […]
The nation’s top Medicare official took to Twitter to respond to a mainstream news report critical of the federal government’s handling of the first major COVID-19 outbreak at a skilled nursing facility. “60 Minutes” this past Sunday profiled that outbreak — which devastated a Life Care Centers of America facility in the Seattle suburb of […]
The federal government on Friday announced its intention to relax restrictions around billing Medicare for immunization in nursing homes, with the stated goal of speeding the eventual distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine. Skilled nursing facilities are typically required to bill Medicare directly for immunizations under the terms of the Social Security Act, even if the […]
Starting in January, the federal government will base Medicare payments for COVID-19 tests on labs’ ability to meet two-day turnaround times, docking them $25 per test for failure to reach the goal. Medicare will pay labs the current $100-apiece rate for high-throughput tests only if they can complete them within two calendar days of specimen […]
Subscribe
Receive industry updates and breaking news from SNN.