CMS asks 30,000 Medicare providers to take part in survey
Dec 17, 2008
The fourth annual Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services healthcare provider satisfaction survey is on its way, the agency announced Tuesday.
AHCA pressures CMS, lawmakers to wait on ‘five-star’ rating system
Nov 25, 2008
The pending “five-star” nursing home rating system should be delayed because it would not accurately reflect the quality of the nation’s nursing homes, the American Health Care Association...
CMS may not cover bariatric surgery for non-obese diabetics
Nov 24, 2008
Medicare would not cover bariatric surgeries for people who have diabetes but are not morbidly obese, according to a policy proposed recently by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Yarwood: Five-star rating system, card-check legislation loom large
Oct 07, 2008
While the nursing home industry can be proud of its accomplishments in Washington over the last year, many challenges await. These include card-check legislation in Congress and a problematic five-star...
Nursing-home study: Inspection system ‘broken and can’t be fixed’
Aug 13, 2008
A leading nursing-home association is calling for an independent panel to come up with new methods for overseeing nursing facilities. The association’s task force issued 31 recommendations Tuesday,...
Obese beneficiaries weigh down Medicare, study finds
Jul 28, 2008
Overweight seniors cost more under Medicare than their thinner counterparts, a new study finds.
Experts: Medicare should help pay for long-term care coverage
Jul 22, 2008
Adding a long-term care benefit to the Medicare program would be a favorable way to help address the impending challenges related to the aging baby-boom generation, healthcare experts say in a new Commonwealth...
Regulators: Provider gift cards to nursing home residents won’t draw fines
Jul 09, 2008
A healthcare system that proposes giving gift cards to residents and other customers it disappoints with poor service is on firm legal ground, federal regulators say.
Regulators go overtime fielding comments and questions on nursing home star-rating system
Jun 25, 2008
While the focus of regulators’ “Open Door Forum” conference call Tuesday might have first appeared to be about getting ready for the December rollout of a new nursing home ranking system,...
Nursing homes lukewarm to government’s new five-star rating system
Jun 19, 2008
Nursing home operators wasted little time Wednesday issuing rebuttals to the federal government’s announcement that it would create and publish individual facility rankings on its Web site by the...