Improper payments, bad data threaten access to long-term care, GAO health leader testifies
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 13, 2018
Despite efforts to reduce improper payments in Medicaid, they continue to increase — rising to about $37 billion in fiscal year 2017, the Government Accountability Office’s healthcare director...
Skilled nursing providers would lose out under Trump’s revised payment system
By
Kimberly Marselas
Feb 14, 2018
A plan to lump together payments to all post-acute providers would be a budget cut dressed up as reform, providers said after reviewing the Department of Health and Human Services budget proposal.
Price-gouging accusations lead to action: LTC operators seek agency staffing fixes
By
Kimberly Marselas
Dec 01, 2021
After watching pay for temporary workers explode over the last year-plus, providers have been calling out anti-competitive behavior and pushing for fast state and federal pricing reforms.
Republicans reconsider targeting Medicare, Medicaid in election year
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 10, 2018
Last weekend’s Camp David retreat has Republicans rethinking their earlier ambitions to reform safety-net programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, fearing a lack of support heading into midterm...
Kansas suing nursing home that failed to protect privacy after closing
By
Kimberly Marselas
Dec 15, 2017
State of Kansas officials are suing a nursing home that’s been closed for almost a year, alleging the owner did not remove personal information of former residents or employees from the subsequently...
Having My Say | When the world spun out of control, they stepped up
By
Kimberly Marselas
Feb 01, 2022
Nursing home workers are some of the most dedicated in healthcare, often sacrificing on behalf of their charges. That commitment shines through in times of natural disaster.
8-hour training requirement attracts thousands to CNA pathway
By
Kimberly Marselas
Feb 17, 2021
A stop-gap effort to supplement nursing home staff by lowering some entry-level training requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic may become permanent if Florida lawmakers have their way.
Advocacy group calls on CMS to increase Medicare audits, expand review criteria
By
Kimberly Marselas
Mar 08, 2018
The Council for Medicare Integrity this week asked Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to expand efforts to reduce improper Medicare billing as heading off some planned program cuts.
Warning on staffing minimum: Studying costs won’t matter if pay doesn’t add up
By
Kimberly Marselas
Aug 30, 2022
Cost analysis will be “an important part” of a final report on federal minimum staffing standards, the head of a national study assured nursing home stakeholders Monday.
‘High stakes’ as providers still face brisk infection control surveys, brace for return of standard...
By
Kimberly Marselas
May 10, 2021
Nursing homes across the country are still being hit with near-routine Focused Infection Control surveys, nine months after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that surveyors should...