Franken reintroduces bill to facilitate rides from nursing homes to medical appointments
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 22, 2014
More Medicaid dollars would flow to volunteers who drive nursing home residents to medical appointments under a bill recently reintroduced by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN). Seniors living in rural parts of Minnesota...
MedPAC endorses readmissions penalties for home health, hospice benefit for Medicare Advantage
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 21, 2014
Home health providers should be subject to Medicare reimbursement penalties based on hospital readmission rates, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.
CMS needs to improve oversight of Medicare contractors’ error rate reduction plans, report says
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 21, 2014
Too many Medicare providers are receiving improper payments, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should clamp down by doing a better job overseeing its contractors’ error rate reduction...
Playing tennis, and the ‘what if?’ game
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 21, 2014
Watching the Australian Open tennis tournament, where temperatures have been hovering around 110 degrees, has helped my recovery from the recent polar vortex. It’s also unexpectedly prompted me to...
Taking multiple medications does not pose a major hospitalization risk for those with numerous conditions,...
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 21, 2014
For some people, taking many different kinds of medication does not increase the risk of being hospitalized as much as some healthcare professionals may believe, according to recently published research...
Medicare appeals at the administrative law judge level will be suspended for two years due to backlog,...
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 17, 2014
Long-term care providers filing to have a Medicare claims appeal heard by an administrative law judge will not have the case assigned to a judge for at least two years, according to the Office of Medicare...
Jimmo correction: Assistants may provide maintenance services in skilled nursing facilities
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 17, 2014
Skilled nursing facilities may be reimbursed for maintenance therapy services performed by assistants, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services clarified in a recent Medicare Benefit Policy manual...
Help keep Holocaust survivors out of long-term care facilities, panelists urge Congressional lawmakers
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 17, 2014
Strenuous efforts should be made to provide aging Holocaust survivors with home care, because institutional settings tend to trigger post-traumatic stress disorder for this group, experts told lawmakers...
Bipartisan bill proposes new provider networks to serve chronically ill seniors
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 16, 2014
Skilled nursing and rehabilitation providers would be able to join networks dedicated to treating chronically ill Medicare patients, under a new bipartisan bill introduced Wednesday in both houses of Congress....
Managed care plans will account for 75% of Medicaid beneficiaries by 2015, analysts estimate
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 16, 2014
Three-quarters of Medicaid enrollees will receive their benefits through a managed care organization (MCO) as of 2015, according to a new report from healthcare advisory company Avalere Health. Because...