Federal contractors are heading into 75 nursing homes this fall to gather data needed to establish a first-ever federal minimum staffing mandate.
Lawmakers ask CMS about cut
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 04, 2020
Nearly 100 U.S. lawmakers sent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma a letter in mid-February, expressing concerns over a plan that would slice 8% from Medicare payments for...
Heeere’s … (your new and improved) McKnight’s!
By
James M. Berklan
Nov 01, 2021
McKnight’s. As you’ve surely noticed by now, this magazine has changed since the last time you saw it. We’ve modernized our layout, content flow and logo.
CMS intensifies survey oversight in new memo
By
James M. Berklan
Dec 01, 2021
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has turned up the heat again on providers with new guidance that directs surveyors to take a more critical look at nurse competency and residents’ quality...
MDS proposal cuts Section G
By
James M. Berklan
Jan 05, 2020
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services surprised providers at the end of 2019 when they presented a first draft of the 2020 MDS item sets.
Arbitration has checkered LTC history
By
James M. Berklan
Aug 01, 2019
There is at least a temporary end to the pinball existence of nursing home pre-dispute arbitration clauses now that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued a final rule allowing them.
Satisfaction? Not yet: CMS
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 04, 2020
Federal regulators say that nursing homes could eventually come to see patient satisfaction scores included in Five Star Quality Ratings and on the Nursing Home Compare website.
Pay switch costs a bundle
By
James M. Berklan
Nov 02, 2018
Total episode payments declined but the Medicare program lost big from 2013 to 2016 with Bundled Payments for Care Improvement. The total cost was nearly $290 million. Model 2, the most commonly used track...
PASRR assessment paused
By
James M. Berklan
Jun 01, 2020
Federal regulators have put pre-admission screenings on the back burner, at least temporarily, during the coronavirus pandemic.
CMS targets pay schemes
By
James M. Berklan
Dec 05, 2019
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has said it is going to crack down on “impermissible financing arrangements” currently taking place under Medicaid.