States push CMS to repeal COVID-19 vaccine mandate
By
Kimberly Marselas
Lois A. Bowers
Nov 18, 2022
A coalition of 22 states is taking a new angle in its attempts to overturn a national mandate requiring that healthcare workers be vaccinated against COVID-19: They’re simply asking federal regulators...
Is pay pain reaching its peak after another year of impressive wage growth?
By
Kimberly Marselas
Nov 11, 2022
After a two-year stretch in which nursing homes’ largest employee group made salary gains approaching 20%, relief for cash-strapped providers may be in sight, even if far on the horizon.
Nursing home docs, therapists hit with CMS pay cut
By
Kimberly Marselas
Nov 02, 2022
Healthcare providers, including doctors and therapists who treat nursing home patients, will see a key payment factor cut by 4.4% next year.
Whistleblowers add to nursing home COVID relief burdens
By
Kimberly Marselas
Oct 31, 2022
A $105 million federal lawsuit filed last week — one possibly on its way to a quick dismissal — shows the growing threats nursing home operators face in accounting for their right to collect and spend...
Federal COVID cases with major LTC implications headed for November action
By
Kimberly Marselas
Oct 28, 2022
Two cases that could play a pivotal role in determining how well skilled nursing providers are protected by a federal COVID shield law are headed for important federal court dates.
States get needed nurse aide waiver relief but workers’ fates uncertain
By
Kimberly Marselas
Oct 07, 2022
Skilled nursing providers in at least 15 states averted the loss of thousands of frontline workers Thursday, when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services let expire a blanket national waiver allowing...
The carrot vs. the stick
By
Kimberly Marselas
Oct 06, 2022
As many states have moved to tighten regulations in lockstep with the federal focus on nursing home reform, there’s often been an unexpected guest at the negotiating table.
Arbitration battles loom after Supreme Court inaction, tough new guidance
By
Kimberly Marselas
Oct 05, 2022
The US Supreme Court this week refused to hear arguments that nursing homes should be able to require pre-dispute arbitration agreements, clearing the way for enforcement of stiff new arbitration rules...
BREAKING: Congressional study eviscerates for-profit nursing homes
By
Kimberly Marselas
Sep 21, 2022
Dire conditions inside for‑profit nursing home chains contributed to deadly, early-pandemic conditions inside facilities, while “convoluted corporate structures” may have helped companies “obscure...
New CMS data platform raises concerns about access, worker privacy
By
Kimberly Marselas
Sep 20, 2022
A technology change is raising concerns about data access and worker privacy as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services transitions to a new, more secure data-reporting process.