House bill calls for $1.6B program to bolster nursing home workforce
By
Josh Henreckson
Apr 12, 2024
A new US House bill aims to bolster the country’s nursing home workforce with $400 million over each of the next four years.
Congress advisers back permanent telehealth expansions, look to nix in-person rule for behavioral telehealth...
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 12, 2024
Maintaining Medicare beneficiaries’ access to telehealth services, especially for behavioral health, must remain an initial priority over payment reform or quality measurement, members of a congressional...
A Medicare Advantage fix: What took so long?
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 12, 2024
Providers hoping that policy makers might some day show some backbone when dealing with Medicare Advantage plans can take heart. Well, at least a little.
Half a century and 4 million meals haven’t slowed down this long-term care culinary king
By
Josh Henreckson
Apr 10, 2024
For almost as long as there has been a Buena Vista Care Center in Santa Barbara, CA, Miguel Pulido has been there — making sure the residents of the nursing home are fed and happy.
Poor working conditions are a top reason nurses leave healthcare, study finds
By
Kristen Fischer
Apr 10, 2024
Unpleasant working conditions are a top reason nurses walk away from their jobs at long-term care facilities and hospitals, and bid adieu to healthcare, according to a new report.
White House promises staffing rule is near as Biden courts fresh attention for caregiving agenda
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 10, 2024
President Joe Biden said Tuesday his administration plans to finalize its nursing home staffing rule in “coming weeks,” just one element of a platform meant to transform caregiving for patients and...
Staffing, Medicaid policy force nursing homes to ‘self-limit’ access
Apr 09, 2024
One in four skilled nursing beds is offline in Pennsylvania, with providers tying reduced access directly to a lack of frontline staff and Medicaid payment shortfalls. But that’s no one-state issue,...
Ombudsman demands audit of agency that regulates state’s nursing homes
By
Josh Henreckson
Apr 08, 2024
A report from the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman in Oregon has called for an independent audit of the state’s Department of Human Services, arguing that the regulatory body missed multiple red...
Also in the News for Monday, April 8, 2024
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 08, 2024
Long-term care industry needs to raise the bar for onboarding: survey … Lawmakers embrace bill prohibiting LTC owners or staff from becoming guardians of residents … Change Healthcare facing at least...
Behavior problems — not financial motivation — most often precede forced SNF discharges: OIG
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 04, 2024
Nursing homes most often initiated a discharge because a resident’s behavior endangered the resident or others in the facility, a rationale fully within their rights, a government watchdog reported Wednesday.