States get needed nurse aide waiver relief but workers’ fates uncertain
By
Kimberly Marselas
Oct 07, 2022
Skilled nursing providers in at least 15 states averted the loss of thousands of frontline workers Thursday, when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services let expire a blanket national waiver allowing...
BREAKING: Feds partner with CVS, Walgreens to provide pending COVID-19 vaccinations to all senior care...
By
James M. Berklan
Oct 16, 2020
Residents and workers of all long-term care settings will receive free vaccinations against the coronavirus onsite under a special public-private partnership with pharmaceutical giants CVS and Walgreens,...
BREAKING: CMS finalizes therapy pay cuts in 2022 Physician Pay Rule, and extends COVID reporting period
By
Danielle Brown
James M. Berklan
Nov 02, 2021
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized a 15% payment reduction for physical and occupational therapy assistants, and extended temporary telehealth services added to Medicare during the...
More states moving to add extra layers of nursing home scrutiny
By
Joe Bush
Nov 15, 2022
The debut of the most recent new state dashboard shows the lengths states are going to in order to increase transparency into nursing home quality and operations.
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...
Thousands of nursing homes face lower Five-Star ratings with changes to staffing stars
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jul 11, 2022
New Five-Star scoring metrics could penalize an estimated 10% to 16% of providers who have relied on staffing strengths to drive their overall ratings.
Opponents of the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers are pursuing two fresh pathways to defeat it. Both challenges cite the pandemic’s current, less critical stage...
Feds broaden nursing home quality campaign with new discharge, satisfaction and vaccination measures
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 10, 2023
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services made one thing clear when it issued its newly proposed nursing home pay rule last week: Promoting nursing home quality improvement is driving policy formation.
White House announces big nursing home COVID-19 vaccination push and providers push back
By
Joe Bush
Nov 23, 2022
The Biden administration on Tuesday announced a six-week $475 million campaign to raise the COVID-19 vaccination rate among nursing home residents, and the sector’s leaders responded immediately with...
CMS, OIG agree on increasing scrutiny of psychotropic drug use
By
Joe Bush
Nov 18, 2022
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will be increasing its oversight of the use of psychotropic drugs to pay closer attention to certain classes, warned the lead author of a federal report identifying...