Nursing home aide can proceed with federal religious discrimination claim, judge rules
By
McKnight's Staff
Sep 07, 2012
A nursing home activities aide allegedly fired over refusing to pray the rosary with a Catholic resident can proceed with a religious discrimination claim, a federal district court ruled this week.
Hospice beneficiaries at a draw with HHS
By
Elizabeth Newman
Sep 01, 2012
What hospice services will pay for, and whether beneficiaries receive correct information from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, converged as issues in court this summer.
Sequestration cuts will target Medicare
By
John O'Connor
Sep 01, 2012
The good news about sequestration cuts slated to start in January: They will not touch Medicaid. The bad news: Medicare funding will trimmed by 2% — or $11 billion — in the next year alone.
Avalere: SNFs facing $65 billion in losses
By
James M. Berklan
Sep 01, 2012
A 1.8% increase in Medicare payments to skilled nursing providers that starts next month will essentially be negated by losses expected from sequestration and the enactment of fresh “bad debt”...
Medicare cuts on pace to top $782 million, Alliance claims
Sep 01, 2012
Operators are bracing for a 2% Medicare pay cut that is slated to kick in Jan. 1. That translates to $782 million in reimbursement reductions per year over the next decade, according to an industry assessment...
Beyond the 3 basics
By
John Andrews
Sep 01, 2012
Providers must realize that offering an activities menu of bingo, birthdays and Bible is an archaic practice, and clearly out of step with the modern resident
Medicare auditors becoming more active, denying more claims, survey shows
By
McKnight's Staff
Aug 29, 2012
Requests for medical records by Medicare’s fraud-detecting recovery audit contractors (RACs) jumped sharply from the first- to the second-quarter of fiscal year 2012, a new survey reveals.
GAO: Medicaid eligibility screening for long-term care is inconsistent across states
By
McKnight's Staff
Aug 28, 2012
The extent to which states conduct asset verification checks on those seeking Medicaid coverage for long-term care varies greatly by state, a government report finds.
OIG should streamline Medicare’s self-disclosed overpayment protocol, provider group says
By
McKnight's Staff
Aug 23, 2012
Federal officials need to provide clearer guidance and offer a more streamlined protocol for providers willing to self-disclose Medicare overpayments, a leading long-term care group says.
States see spike on supplemental Medicaid spending
By
McKnight's Staff
Aug 21, 2012
States spent $9 billion more on supplemental Medicaid payments in 2010 than it did four years previously, according to a government investigation requested by Congress.