Smart cards would do little to curtail Medicare fraud: GAO
By
John Hall
Apr 28, 2015
Medicare beneficiary smart cards would have a limited impact on reducing fraud and could even introduce “new, more sophisticated fraud schemes,” a new report by the Government Accountability...
Report: Long-term care providers pay the price for CMS’ poor auditor oversight
By
Tim Mullaney
Aug 14, 2014
Long-term care and other providers could be facing unfair burdens due to ineffective government oversight of Medicare auditors, according to a new report from a federal watchdog agency.
Watchdog pressures HHS to give timeline on remaining relief funding
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jul 20, 2021
The federal government’s top watchdog is calling for better communication about the distribution of coronavirus relief funds, criticizing the Department of Health and Human Services for not having a...
Also in the News for Monday, Feb. 6
By
Kimberly Marselas
Feb 06, 2023
GAO: CMS transparency efforts don’t allow enough insight into nursing home ownership … 14 major consumer organizations press CMS for nursing home staffing mandate … Athena president outlines staffing...
Replace FMAP with Medicaid funding system that better accounts for seniors, government report says
By
McKnight's Staff
May 15, 2013
The federal government could distribute Medicaid dollars to states more effectively by looking at data that better reflects the needs of nursing home residents and workers, according to a new report from...
CMS now using 14 days of data to calculate COVID-19 county positivity rate; HHS could improve nursing...
By
Danielle Brown
Sep 23, 2020
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid has modified its methodology used for classifying county-level COVID-19 data that determines how often nursing homes will have to test staff members for the disease.
GAO: States still need to meet critical guidelines in implementing Medicaid expansion
By
McKnight's Staff
Aug 07, 2012
Even the states that have committed to expanding their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act want additional guidance from the government, a new federal report finds.
GAO has good points in how, why antipsychotics are given
By
Elizabeth Newman
Mar 04, 2015
The government recognizes the progress made in nursing homes with reduction of antipsychotics for residents with dementia, but also notes many who live in assisted living are receiving the drugs. It’s...
GAO: Medicaid eligibility screening for long-term care is inconsistent across states
By
McKnight's Staff
Aug 28, 2012
The extent to which states conduct asset verification checks on those seeking Medicaid coverage for long-term care varies greatly by state, a government report finds.
Federal watchdog stresses need for retroactive COVID-19 death and case data from nursing homes
By
Danielle Brown
Jan 29, 2021
Federal health agencies are being pressured again to retroactively collect data on COVID-19 deaths and cases from nursing homes to improve the government’s response to the pandemic.