Inspector General blasts agency for ignoring ZPIC scrutiny
By
John Hall
Mar 19, 2015
Ignoring a four-year-old warning to more thoroughly evaluate Medicare auditing contractors is among the pile of unheeded advice that could have saved the Medicare program billions of dollars in recent...
Homicide charges follow sudden illness of six assisted living residents
By
John Hall
Mar 18, 2015
A 98-year-old woman’s death in a south suburban Chicago assisted living facility has been ruled a homicide. She and five others were hospitalized in early February after suffering breathing difficulties....
House unanimously passes ‘observation status’ bill
By
John Hall
Mar 18, 2015
Long-term care leaders firmly applauded members of the U.S. House on Tuesday for unanimously passing a bill that would put tighter control over the designation of “observation status” for hospital...
Major Brookdale investor ratchets up fight for change, seats on board
By
John Hall
Mar 17, 2015
Sandell Asset Management vowed Monday to take its shakeup demands directly to Brookdale Senior Living shareholders, announcing its nomination of three replacements for Brookdale board members whose posts...
Bill would encourage more veterans’ LTC admissions
By
John Hall
Mar 17, 2015
Veterans would gain easier access to nearby long-term care facilities, under legislation introduced Monday in the Senate.
Congress mulls Medicaid-Medicare pay parity, and end of ‘doc fixes’
By
John Hall
Mar 16, 2015
Long-term care providers are closely monitoring two major lawmaking efforts in Washington this week that have both chambers of Congress debating a plan to end annual Medicare cuts and abolish painful “fixes”...
Therapy payment bills supported during AHCA/NCAL fly-in
By
John Hall
Mar 13, 2015
National long-term care industry advocates and numerous facility representatives made the rounds in the halls of Congress on Wednesday in support of legislation designed to permanently end nearly two decades-old...
SNF cuts could be averted under latest ‘doc fix’ proposal
By
John Hall
Mar 12, 2015
Nursing home leaders and operators are crossing their fingers that a new proposal will give them a four- to six-month reprieve from having to possibly finance a plan via reimbursement reductions to avert...
Medicare auditors exaggerating predictions of insolvency, providers say
By
John Hall
Mar 12, 2015
Recovery audit contractors continue to bemoan an audit moratorium and are now saying it is contributing to dire predictions about Medicare program solvency. A RAC group says that General Accountability...
New EHR bills would improve interoperability
By
John Hall
Mar 11, 2015
On the heels of a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services pledge to ease electronic health record implementation reporting rules several weeks ago, newly introduced legislation would facilitate greater...