As the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services unveils its proposed payment rules for the coming fiscal year, some in the industry feel that what has already been issued for inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPFs) and hospice providers does not “bode well” for the skilled nursing industry. A Mizuho Securities analyst note […]
CMS
Nursing homes across the state of New York must now abide by a new law that requires facilities to meet minimum staffing levels after Gov. Kathy Hochul lifted a three-month pause on Friday. Hochul originally delayed implementation of the mandates, citing the industry’s staffing challenges made worse by the omicron variant. The law requires the […]
As state and federal policymakers clamor to set nursing home minimum staffing standards – most recently in the Biden administration’s expansive reform proposals – leaders in the space are asking a pointed question: Why now? The industry has already lost nearly 238,000 caregivers in the last two years – an issue that has only been […]
A Republican senator is calling on the Justice Department to open an investigation into the “egregious and flagrant conditions” at the Woodland Behavioral and Nursing Center, a nursing home that has made national headlines amid the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa penned a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday, urging […]
The former head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services this week expressed disappointment in the Biden administration’s nursing home policy proposals, calling the measures “short-sighted” and “outdated policy prescriptions.” In an op-ed published Monday in Modern Healthcare, Seema Verma called on the White House to instead take a more results-oriented approach instead of […]
Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) will pay $3.25 million to settle allegations that it submitted false nursing home staffing data to the federal government and improperly handled resident discharges, the California Attorney General’s Office announced late last week. The settlement agreement comes one year after then-California attorney general Xavier Becerra filed a lawsuit against Tenn.-based […]
Skilled nursing workers are in the midst of a mass exodus from the profession, and not even unprecedented wage increases can compensate for the concerns of the 238,000 caregivers who have left the industry since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The combination of workload, environment, culture and the physical and emotional strain exacerbated an […]
The American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) has asked for meetings with members of the Biden administration one week after the White House unveiled its sweeping nursing home reform proposal. The reforms, developed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through its Centers for Medicare & Medicaid […]
The U.S. Senate this week voted to overturn President Biden’s health care workforce vaccine mandate in a 49 to 44 vote along party lines. It was a vote that was considered largely symbolic through a measure called the Congressional Review Act, according to a New York Times report. Six Democratic senators missed the vote. The […]
As the nursing home industry tried to digest a sweeping set of industry reforms proposed by the Biden administration on Monday, a Capitol Hill lawmaker got in on the action by proposing a bill to force private equity firms to disclose their ownership in facilities. Amid all these developments, one thing has become evident: the […]
President Joe Biden pledged in his first State of the Union address Tuesday night that his administration would do its part to boost nursing home quality, specifically calling out private equity-owned facilities. “As Wall Street firms take over more nursing homes, quality in those homes has gone down and costs have gone up. That ends […]
The Biden administration’s announcement of expansive nursing home reform on Monday elicited varied responses from industry trade groups and advocacy organizations. Groups representing skilled nursing providers expressed particular concern that the reforms would impose stricter expectations without providing the needed resources to meet new mandates related to staffing minimums and other proposed requirements. The reforms, […]
As nursing homes work to get residents and staff up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccines, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Wednesday that it would post booster data on its Care Compare website. In addition to resident and staff booster rates at the facility level, the site will offer insight into state and […]
The COVID-19 pandemic continued to put pressure on an already strained skilled nursing industry in 2021. The next 12 months will be yet another test of resilience. Looking ahead to 2022, SNFs must stay nimble and inventive to not only survive but thrive. Private equity will continue to lead the nursing home transaction market pack, […]
With the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ vaccine mandate back on across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling this week, nursing home workers in 24 states will have until March 15 to be fully vaccinated, according to new guidance released Friday. Health care workers in the 24 states that fell under the […]
Nursing home operators were not too surprised by the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the Biden administration’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccine mandate to stand, but remain anxious about how the nationwide implementation of the rule may intensify an industry-wide staffing crisis. The high court sank a separate order involving the Occupational […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a clarification to its nursing home visitation guidance, just a few days after a some of the largest aging services organizations urged government officials to provide flexibility in limiting visitation due to the latest surge in COVID-19 cases. In a nursing home visitation frequently asked […]
When the federal vaccine mandate for health care workers went into effect before the latest court injunctions stopped it in its path, there was a time when Accura HealthCare CEO Ted LeNeave was going to have to lay off 1,000 unvaccinated workers companywide. Balancing what was initially issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid […]
Nearly a decade after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) established accountable care organizations (ACOs) in conjunction with the Affordable Care Act, the health care landscape has shifted even further toward a focus on outcomes and value. As recently as October CMS and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation Center (CMMI) […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has suspended its vaccine mandate for health care staff, including those who work in nursing homes, so long as court injunctions remain in effect. CMS announced the mandate suspension in a memo on Thursday, adding that it has appealed both court decisions and has filed motions for […]
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