CMS: Nursing home Medicare cuts helped keep healthcare spending at historic low levels
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 07, 2014
Dramatic Medicare cuts to skilled nursing facilities played a significant part in keeping healthcare spending low in 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Monday.
Unsettled business
By
James M. Berklan
Sep 20, 2011
The opening of the American Health Care Association’s annual meeting took on a familiar air Monday afternoon in Las Vegas: A lot of proud retrospectives of a year gone by, prerequisite hand-wringing...
Gap between long-term care costs and Medicaid payments was widest ever last year, report finds
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 15, 2014
Medicaid underfunded long-term care by the greatest margin on record in 2013, according to a new report from the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living, the nation’s...
Open up and say ‘Aha’
By
James M. Berklan
Dec 01, 2010
OK, raise your hand if you were surprised to learn that physicians averted a major Medicare pay cut that was supposed to take place this week. Didn’t think so. I wasn’t either.
Sorry, that’s not the full recipe for fixing nursing homes
By
John O'Connor
Jun 04, 2012
The Atlantic’s recent article called ‘How to Fix Nursing Homes’ is a well-written and thoughtful piece. My only gripe is that the headline is a bit of a reach.
Providers holding breath for Senate ‘doc fix’ vote
By
John Hall
Mar 27, 2015
As expected, the House of Representatives on Thursday repealed the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), earning loud praise from the American Health Care Association.
Relaxed regulations lead to spike in telehealth use, nursing homes report
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 12, 2020
Continued telehealth expansion under Medicare will be good for residents’ well-being, and may help administrators keep pace with other healthcare sectors, according to the Columbia University School...
Your money’s no good here
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 01, 2017
I’d say the thing we write about most often in this line of work is payment issues. As a long-term care provider, you are eternally under pressure with whether there will be enough to pay for everything.
Congress mulls Medicaid-Medicare pay parity, and end of ‘doc fixes’
By
John Hall
Mar 16, 2015
Long-term care providers are closely monitoring two major lawmaking efforts in Washington this week that have both chambers of Congress debating a plan to end annual Medicare cuts and abolish painful “fixes”...
CLASS Act math
By
Liza Berger
Dec 01, 2009
If you are confused about the financial implications of the highly publicized CLASS Act, you are not alone. If it’s supposed to be solvent and actuarially sound over the long term, why is the program...