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 blow to CMS’s credibility … thank goodness
By
James M. Berklan
Jun 21, 2023
Now that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has blown a hole in its credibility balloon, speculation about a federal staffing mandate can run rampant.
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...
There’s more than one way to park a car — or come into CMS compliance
By
James M. Berklan
Feb 17, 2022
Providers have shown a strong interest in compliance exemptions for the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate lately. Now it gets interesting.
Supreme Court leaves providers to grapple with vaccine mandate, takes other employers off the hook
By
Kimberly Marselas
James M. Berklan
Jan 13, 2022
Nursing home operators were already bracing late Thursday for the fallout of a nationwide staff vaccine mandate, just hours after the Supreme Court ruled a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rule...
Providers find few silver linings, stew over minimum staffing demands
By
James M. Berklan
Sep 05, 2023
The initial jolt of the newly proposed nursing home staffing mandate has softened little over the long holiday weekend and now those tasked with making it work — providers — are coming to grips with...
BREAKING: CMS vaccine mandate upheld
By
Kimberly Marselas
James M. Berklan
Jan 13, 2022
A vaccine requirement for staff at all U.S. nursing homes and other federally funded healthcare facilities can proceed, the Supreme Court said in a 5-4 decision Thursday afternoon.
Officials: More additions and rebasings of nursing home ratings to come
By
James M. Berklan
Feb 23, 2015
Nearly one-third of the nation’s skilled nursing facilities lost a rating star due purely to administrative changes Friday, when regulators also emphasized that more quality measures will be added...
Ending the year with some long-term care gifts and resolutions
By
James M. Berklan
Dec 20, 2022
When many are exchanging gifts and making New Year’s resolutions, I’ve come up with my wish list for key long-term care players and stakeholders.
CMS: Phase 3 final guidance imminent, ‘a lot coming’
By
James M. Berklan
Jun 29, 2022
NEW ORLEANS — Nursing home operators can expect long-awaited final guidance on Phase 3 Requirements of Participation “very, very soon,” the federal government’s top skilled nursing official said...