CMS wants $45 million more to boost survey enforcement
By
James M. Berklan
May 01, 2019
Nursing homes soon could face tougher state surveys and greater regulatory scrutiny.
A post-acute common pay system possible, CMS says
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 01, 2012
Federal researchers believe a common evaluation and payment model for three types of post-acute care could be up and running in the not-so-distant future. The key might be patient acuity measures that...
In first nursing home visit, CMS admin gets straight talk on agencies, pay and performance
By
James M. Berklan
May 12, 2022
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure has visited nursing homes numerous times, but on Wednesday she did so for the first time in her current capacity as their top...
Nursing home operators hail ‘historic’ Senate passage of permanent ‘doc fix’...
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 15, 2015
The Senate overwhelmingly voted to pass H.R. 2 Tuesday night, paving the way for repeal of the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate and drawing the praise of the largest nursing home association in the country.
Medicare reforms not enough?
By
James M. Berklan
Oct 01, 2012
Medicare payment reforms in the Affordable Care Act might lead to more efficient treatment cycles, but they might not wind up lowering overall payouts to providers and other stakeholders, according to...
Official: HIPAA audits to bring penalties
By
James M. Berklan
Nov 01, 2014
In apparent acknowledgement that HIPAA violation enforcement has been less than aggressive so far, a government adviser said that HIPAA audits would soon produce swift results — and penalties, when appropriate.
BREAKING: CMS starts posting nursing home vaccination rates
By
James M. Berklan
Jun 10, 2021
Federal regulators have unveiled the first round of COVID-19 vaccination data for individual nursing homes on the CMS COVID-19 Nursing Home Data website. Statistics for staff and resident vaccination rates,...
LTC-favored provisions were saved in final tax bill version
By
James M. Berklan
Jan 08, 2018
The House passed a sweeping tax reform bill Dec. 20 that the Senate had tweaked and approved hours earlier in the middle of the night. The conversion of a few Senate holdouts in the days previous erased...
Mainstream media bring added scrutiny to nursing home staffing rule
By
James M. Berklan
Jun 10, 2024
While nursing home operators have been intensively fighting against a national staffing mandate since it was proposed more than two years ago, the general public and the media that serve it only more...
Revised federal health IT strategic plan released, linked to long-term care
By
James M. Berklan
Dec 09, 2014
Although physicians and hospitals are the main focus of an updated federal health information technology plan announced Monday, long-term care and other providers were also identified as targets of a push...