$3T stimulus proposal calls for MFAR delay, 14% FMAP increase, $500M SNF ‘strike team’ fund
By
Danielle Brown
May 14, 2020
A Medicaid proposal that providers say could cut up to $50 billion nationwide from the program annually would be barred from being finalized during the coronavirus pandemic under a $3 trillion stimulus...
CMS releases provider COVID-19 case, death totals to consumers on Nursing Home Compare
By
Danielle Brown
Jun 05, 2020
The number of coronavirus deaths and cases among facility’s residents and workers is now publicly available on the Nursing Home Compare website, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced...
Proposed 9% cut to therapy ‘potentially devastating’
By
Danielle Brown
Aug 05, 2020
A proposal to cut 9% from Medicare payments for physical and occupational therapy under the federal government’s Proposed Physician Fee Schedule Rule for 2021 could potentially have a “devastating...
Five-Star insights: Will those stars ever illuminate your path?
By
Steven Littlehale
May 16, 2012
I recently asked a hospital discharge planner how she chooses which nursing home to discharge to. “Five-Star” was the reply. Was I surprised? Not at all. Once again, it demonstrates just how...
Congressional lawmakers grill top ALJ on appeals backlog, say too many providers are being put out of...
By
Tim Mullaney
Jul 11, 2014
Efforts to root out Medicare fraud have put far too many above-board providers in auditors’ crosshairs, leading to a staggering backlog of appeals that has no easy fix, Congressional lawmakers and...
The end of fee for service
By
Mark Fish
Sep 12, 2014
The seeds that have flowered into the burgeoning of ACOs – groups of providers accepting the responsibility, and risk, for caring for the health of a designated patient population according to defined...
On PDPM cuts, Congress ‘stands ready’ to exert its authority — but where’s the checkbook?
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jul 05, 2022
Providers will no doubt be overjoyed to learn today that members of Congress — a whopping 40 of them! — are stepping into the fray over proposed cuts to the nursing home sector’s new payment model....
County COVID-19 rates will dictate staff testing frequency, new CMS guidance says
By
Liza Berger
Aug 27, 2020
Routine testing of staff now will be based on the level of COVID-19 activity in the community. That’s according to official new guidance released Wednesday in response to federal regulatory changes disclosed...
Latest therapy-billing showdown could be ominous sign for long-term care providers
By
James M. Berklan
Sep 10, 2014
Don’t let anyone tell you that long-term care operators don’t know how to read between the lines. They might not have known to fear a McKnight’s Monday news item before it broke, but...
Nursing homes become ‘high-risk,’ owners to be fingerprinted under new doc pay rule proposal
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jul 08, 2022
Nursing home owners could face heightened background screening requirements under a proposal tucked more than 1,000 pages into a huge new proposed physician pay rule released Thursday.