Obama opens the door for drastic new Medicare, Medicaid cuts for nursing homes
Jun 16, 2009
Frayed nerves were showing in the provider community Monday after President Obama announced his intentions Saturday to cut $313 billion more from Medicare and Medicaid over the next 10 years. The proposed...
Obama endorses letting Medicare Payment Advisory Commission set payment rates
Jun 08, 2009
The move to empower the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee to enact its own policy proposals gained significant traction last week when President Obama said in a letter to lawmakers that he would be open...
Nursing home lobbyists urge lawmakers for change but don’t expect long-term care reform
Jun 05, 2009
Hundreds of nursing home owners and operators blitzed congressional buildings in Washington on Thursday, pressing lawmakers for better Medicare payments, a halt to post-acute payment bundling system talk...
Nursing home advocates converging on U.S. lawmakers to demand better Medicare reimbursement
May 29, 2009
More than 300 nursing home owners and operators are expected to meet in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday to try to persuade lawmakers to be generous with Medicare funding. The Obama budget proposal...
Rockefeller introduces bill making MedPAC independent executive branch agency
May 27, 2009
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is a legislative entity whose purpose is to advise Congress on matters of Medicare reimbursement rates and coverage policies. Now, one senator has introduced...
CMS threatens withholding stimulus funding if home health pay isn’t reinstated
May 13, 2009
When the California state legislature act to reduce the state’s maximum contribution to home healthcare workers’ pay from $12.10 per hour to $10.10 per hour, it violated the terms of the recently...
Nursing home groups suggest $1 billion Medicare cuts could cost even more
May 13, 2009
Nursing home representatives and healthcare groups continued their attacks against a proposed FY 2010 $1.05 billion Medicare reduction on Tuesday with the release of a report indicating the cuts could...
Obama proposes $17 billion in budget cuts, programs for the elderly and poor threatened
May 08, 2009
President Obama on Thursday proposed cuts of $17 billion from his new budget for both discretionary spending and entitlement programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. Various interest groups are expected...
Baucus, Grassley propose ‘bundling’ of post-acute payments; nursing home groups object
Apr 30, 2009
Sens. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) this week released several policy ideas for revamping America’s healthcare delivery system. Many of these would affect the long-term care and post-acute...
Report: Nursing home stocks weathering economy OK, but reimbursement concerns loom
Apr 27, 2009
At least a handful of for-profit nursing home companies’ stock values are holding strong, despite an overall shaky economy, a new Dow Jones report notes. The key has been relatively stable Medicare...