The nursing home sector appears to have picked up a few allies as it continues to look for ways to address price gouging from staffing agencies. In a letter signed on Monday, Reps. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), and nearly 200 other members of Congress nationwide called on White House officials to investigate nurse […]
LeadingAge
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday said it is making more than $2 billion in Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 distribution payments to providers, including nursing homes. That brings the PRF Phase 4 total payments to $11 billion, on the heels of $9 billion released in December. This is in […]
National aging services organization LeadingAge penned a letter to President Joe Biden late last week, urging the administration to replenish $8 to $10 billion in Provider Relief Funds and establish an emergency financial program to address the staffing crisis. The proposed staffing support program would increase hourly compensation by $5 and provide one-time payments of […]
Though some nursing home owners had hoped to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind them by the end of 2021, coronavirus variants and the exacerbated staffing shortages have made that impossible for most heading into 2022. If this year has taught the sector anything, it’s that some threats to long-term care won’t be as temporary as […]
Aging services organizations are now urging the Biden administration to provide flexibility in limiting visitation within nursing homes, citing expected surges in COVID-19 cases tied to the omicron variant. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in November issued guidance allowing visitation for “all residents at all times.” While visitors should be made aware […]
In a partial win for the Biden administration, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday revived the health care worker vaccine mandate in 26 states. A three judge New Orleans-based panel ruled that a lower court injunction only had the authority to block the mandate in 14 states involved in the lawsuit: Alabama, […]
Nursing home staffing provisions in the Build Back Better Act so far remain unchanged — and unfunded — as the bill works its way through the Senate. That’s according to panelists at a Tuesday telepress conference hosted by senior housing and care industry association LeadingAge. The Build Back Better Act (HR 5376), which broadly aims […]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is working on developing vaccine mandate guidance for surveyors, the government agency said during a stakeholder call last week. While the guidance is forthcoming, CMS is placing responsibility on state agencies to conduct safe surveys. Guidance will be relevant to surveyors within CMS, state surveyors and “non-nursing […]
Some nursing home advocacy groups and operators, upon the Thursday release of the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate guidance, say execution will only make the current workforce crisis worse. Others believe employer-initiated mandates indicate less of a workforce loss, with operators like St. Louis, Mo.-based St. Andrew’s Resources for Seniors System (STARRS) losing less than 2% […]
In the face of an unrelenting staffing crisis, the temporary nursing aide (TNA) program developed in response to the pandemic is still tied to public health emergencies and accompanying 1135 waivers, a condition operators and aging advocacy groups hope will change. Virginia Beach, Va.-based operator Beth Sholom Village hired 10 TNAs through the program, according […]
Optimism is growing that a long debated domestic policy package — which includes an investment in the skilled nursing sector to improve surveys and ensure staffing ratios are being monitored and adjusted accordingly — could be passed in Congress. The $1.85 trillion bill, highlighted by social social services and climate change programs, has been coupled […]
As skilled nursing operators across the country try to find the best path forward for their facilities post-COVID, one option being considered by many, including the leadership team at Minnesota-based Health Dimensions Group, is a reduction in licensed beds. “A lot of providers right now are either being forced to resize or choosing to resize,” […]
The need to consider offering at-home services may be accelerating for nursing home operators as the Choose Home Care Act of 2021 was introduced in the House of Representatives on Friday. The bill was first introduced in July in the U.S. Senate by Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Todd Young (R-IN). A bipartisan effort, the […]
Of the two million patients admitted to nursing homes every year, an anticipated 35% could be diverted to home health care if the Choose Home Care Act of 2021 becomes law, according to Keith Myers, chairman and CEO of LHC Group. Myers, along with Visiting Nurse Health System CEO Dorothy Davis, spoke about the legislation […]
During a discussion to drive home the importance of more government funding for the aging services space, providers across the long-term care continuum, skilled nursing among them, said they are having to turn away referrals due to dwindling staff. President and CEO of LeadingAge Texas George Linial said 60% of his members have been unable […]
Following the Biden administration’s announcement that all nursing home staff must be vaccinated against COVID-19 or risk losing Medicare and Medicaid funding, operators and senior living organization leaders fear singling out one group of health care workers will only exacerbate a continued staffing crisis. Some state mandates, on the other hand, call on all health […]
Staffing demands from COVID-19 spurred a national 7.13% increase in hourly wages for certified nursing aides (CNAs) this year according to a report published by the Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service (HCS). The spike outpaced a 2020 increase of 4.76%. Non-certified nurse aides saw the highest raise at 7.98%, up from 4.24% in 2020. Despite […]
Several factors continue to push patient care inside the home including health care waivers, patient preference, proposed legislation and an incentive to keep patients out of hospitals during the pandemic, as 32 states now offer hospital care at-home services as of July 27. While the clinical capabilities of in-home care remain limited, some operators are […]
Genesis HealthCare has implemented a “universal” COVID-19 vaccination requirement for its employees, care partners and onsite vendors, the post-acute care provider announced Tuesday. The policy requires that individuals have a single dose of the Janssen vaccine or the first dose of a two-dose mRNA vaccine by Aug. 23. The second dose, if applicable, would be […]
A new bill before Congress — the Choose Home Care Act of 2021 — received support on both sides of the aisle when it was introduced on Thursday, though one of the loudest voices in the long-term care lobby is disappointed to see it move forward. In a statement released on Thursday, the American Health […]