To save itself, might Medicare deny coverage of controversial new Alzheimer’s drug?
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 28, 2021
The true price to administer aducanumab — a controversial new Alzheimer’s treatment — may actually be closer to $100,000 annually than other, lower estimates and is just one reason the Centers for...
Buoyed by growth, massive hospital system drives collaboration — and takes the lead on payments
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 21, 2021
When Steward Health Care announced last week that it was buying five hospitals from Tenet Healthcare Corp. for $1.1 billion, what didn’t get much media attention was the organization’s history of coordinating...
When CMS gives you a gift, pay it forward
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 16, 2021
This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services presented some 2,500 nursing homes with quite a gift: an additional seven days to avoid a fine for missing a new vaccination reporting deadline....
Oil, gold, nursing homes? Stop acting like you’re a commodity
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 11, 2021
With all the talk of impending acquisitions this spring, it’s hard not to think of skilled nursing facilities as commodities to be bandied about for the right price — or shuttered if they don’t produce...
Risk-bearing execs: Operators need to ‘make some noise’ to make some money
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 10, 2021
Skilled nursing providers looking to take on risk for long-term viability need to start getting creative, warn two executives in the business of connecting payers and providers in value-based partnerships.
Dry powder vs. powder keg
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 01, 2021
Minor occupancy gains, inflation fears could ignite, making 2021 an ideal time to buy or sell skilled nursing assets. Will occupancy, labor and interest rate worries inhibit the optimism?
Loopholes remain in rush to upgrade nursing home staffing requirements
By
Kimberly Marselas
May 28, 2021
Lawmakers in several states have turned their attention to a popular scapegoat of COVID-19’s virulent spread in long-term care: staffing levels.
Flying blind with infection control
By
Kimberly Marselas
May 01, 2021
The need for infection preventionists has never been greater, but long-term care providers remain in the dark as to how and when they will need to fit new federally imposed criteria.
Are we ‘driving’ in the right direction when it comes to ongoing vaccine access?
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 28, 2021
Even as news broke Tuesday that fully vaccinated residents could once again dine and socialize — without masks! — in close proximity to one another, there came a nagging reminder that it’s too early...
As Medicare Advantage drives rate lower, fed-up CEOs embrace strategies that limit carriers’ influence
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 26, 2021
Medicare Advantage’s aggressive market penetration represents a major threat to skilled nursing providers, some of whom now find themselves clearing less per resident day through MA plans than they do...