BREAKING: Supreme Court speeds vax mandates to Jan. 7 hearing
By
James M. Berklan
Dec 22, 2021
The U.S. Supreme Court took the unusual step of announcing Wednesday night that it would hear arguments over the administration’s COVID-19 worker vaccine mandate on Jan. 7, three days before it was originally...
A Medicare Advantage fix: What took so long?
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 12, 2024
Providers hoping that policy makers might some day show some backbone when dealing with Medicare Advantage plans can take heart. Well, at least a little.
BREAKING: CMS clarifies nursing homes may put some limits on visitors
By
James M. Berklan
Dec 23, 2021
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Thursday acknowledged “very limited and rare exceptions” that would allow nursing homes to restrict some visits.
Will there be a ‘real’ CMS administrator soon? It’s looking so
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 03, 2013
If you’re a gambling person, it looks like the odds just got a whole lot better for Marilyn Tavenner becoming the next administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. That’s...
The top long-term care stories of 2023
By
James M. Berklan
Dec 18, 2023
Long-term care providers were intent on dismissing undesirable memories of the COVID-19 pandemic as much as possible in 2023, but the year’s top stories revealed there were still remnants of it to...
Therapists anxious without CMS guidance on telehealth coverage post-PHE
By
James M. Berklan
May 12, 2023
Therapy groups serving long-term care and other institutional providers were left hanging Thursday as the public health emergency officially lapsed and federal regulators still had not given clarification...
How should long-term care providers celebrate? Let us count the ways
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 31, 2016
Long-term care operators have plenty of reasons to recoil and lick their wounds over the course of a year. But there are also good times when they should find reason to smile. Like this past week.
Providers worried about CMS pace on new MDS materials
By
James M. Berklan
Dec 09, 2022
Skilled nursing operators were happily surprised in September with an early draft of MDS revisions, but ever since it’s been a slog getting more information.
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...
CMS call takes listeners back in time for MDS compliance but offers nothing new on staffing mandate
By
James M. Berklan
Sep 01, 2023
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services invited the nation’s nursing home stakeholders to a conference call Thursday but played its cards close to the vest regarding its pending release of a first-ever...