A top U.S. coronavirus testing czar had harsh words for a Nevada directive banning the use of antigen point-of-care COVID-19 tests in skilled nursing facilities during a press call on Friday, calling it “an uninformed and unlawful unilateral prohibition.” But Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) assistant secretary for health Adm. Brett Giroir also […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) confirmed the extension by more than two years of repayment terms for advance Medicare cash floated to providers, while also offering further relief of up to five years for operators in particular financial distress. Under the more generous terms, passed earlier this month as part of a […]
The federal government waived several reporting requirements for nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and while they have since been reinstated, the temporary pause will continue to have ripple effects on public data over the coming years. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) this week released an updated tip sheet explaining the agency’s […]
While emphasizing that the industry is much better prepared to weather a potential revival of large COVID-19 outbreaks in the fall and winter, a top nursing home leader on Tuesday called on operators to use the hard lessons learned during 2020 to improve from within. “You cannot ignore the fact that probably close to 100,000 […]
Nursing home residents cannot have their voting rights impeded in any way, and facilities must have a plan to ensure that residents can exercise that right, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) warned in a memo to surveyors this week. The memo to state survey agency directors is meant to provide clarification on […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the need for high-level clinicians in nursing facilities, but a pending change to Medicare reimbursements could force physicians to take a steep pay cut in order to continue to practicing in post-acute and long-term care — or push them further and further out of the space. The Medicare Physician Fee […]
A bill to fund the federal government and avert another shutdown also gave nursing home operators and other health care providers a significant extension on repaying advance Medicare payments offered through a COVID-19 stimulus program. The Senate passed and President Trump last week signed a continuing resolution that included a provision to delay recoupments from […]
The federal government on Tuesday tweaked its methodology for determining required nursing home COVID-19 testing frequencies under, with a specific focus on regions with relatively lower levels of total coronavirus testing information. In response to concerns from governors of rural states, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) changed some definitions of its color-coded […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Wednesday announced $165 million in supplemental funding to states currently operating Money Follows the Person (MFP) demonstration programs, specifically citing COVID-19 as a key reason to encourage the movement of individuals from the nursing home setting into community resources. “The tragic devastation wrought by the coronavirus […]
In an update to a report issued in July, two Democratic senators had sharp words for the federal response to COVID-19 in U.S. nursing homes, arguing that the Trump administration has failed to take sufficient action to protect nursing home residents and workers from the pandemic. They pointed in particular to policy solutions that multiple […]
The federal government’s sweeping new rules requiring nursing home visitations in most cases generally usurp state-developed requirements, a top official confirmed this week, but Washington is continuing to work with state governments to iron out any significant areas of conflict. “Generally speaking, state guidelines cannot conflict with federal requirements,” Evan Shulman, director of the Centers […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Friday announced the finalization of a new kidney-care payment rule, but the regulation specifically exempts patients who are receiving their dialysis treatment in the nursing home. The End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Treatment Choices (ETC) Model is intended to test whether greater use of home dialysis and […]
The federal government on Thursday issued a new set of nursing home visitation guidelines, laying out a roadmap for resuming indoor visits based on community COVID-19 spread and emphasizing the importance of meeting residents’ psychosocial needs. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled the new recommendations in a memo to directors of State […]
A special federal commission on nursing homes and COVID-19 on Wednesday released its formal report, focusing foremost on testing, personal protective equipment, and visitation as the nation’s long-term care facilities continue to grapple with the novel coronavirus. The Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes laid out 27 primary recommendations for the Centers […]
The federal government this week opened a public comment period on a proposed new quality metric that would measure each nursing home’s ability to curb the spread of infections. The Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) Requiring Hospitalizations measure would track the rate of nursing home stays that result in acquired infections — specifically […]
The head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Monday that the agency is withdrawing a controversial rule intended to overhaul Medicaid supplemental payments — a rule that could have put as much as $50 billion in jeopardy. “We’ve listened closely to concerns that have been raised by our state and provider […]
After the New York Times editorial board published a piece criticizing the nation’s response to the effects of COVID-19 on nursing homes, the head of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) raised several objections on behalf of the Trump administration. “The administration took early, rapid action: We issued infection control guidance to prepare […]
Nursing home leaders should document all attempts to test workers for COVID-19 under strict new rules, officials said this week, as the federal government looks to balance enforcement with the reality of continued hurdles on the ground. “We want to ensure that we’re using enforcement discretion. We know that as we’re implementing this, there’s going […]
The federal government will release approximately 750,000 point-of-care COVID-19 tests from manufacturer Abbott to nursing homes next week in a separate, parallel initiative that builds on a previously announced push to bring coronavirus tests directly to facilities’ doors. Initially positioned as a way to ramp up testing in schools, a Department of Health and Human […]
Nursing homes in more than 800 counties across the country will be required to test workers for the novel coronavirus twice per week under new federal regulations, though the burdens will be much lower in many areas of the country hit hard and early by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services […]
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