HHS chief returns focus of low COVID-19 vax rates to nursing homes
By
James M. Berklan
Jan 04, 2024
The nation’s top health official met with US nursing home leaders for the second time in two weeks Wednesday to discuss what he called concerningly low COVID-19 vaccination rates among long-term care...
The top long-term care stories of 2023
By
James M. Berklan
Dec 18, 2023
Long-term care providers were intent on dismissing undesirable memories of the COVID-19 pandemic as much as possible in 2023, but the year’s top stories revealed there were still remnants of it to...
‘Outliers’ beware: Medicaid transparency rule will track staff spending patterns
By
Kimberly Marselas
May 08, 2024
While a new Medicaid transparency rule for nursing homes doesn’t go as far as a similar measure dictating how home and personal care providers spend their money, data collected through new reporting...
New patient safety measures imminent as risk of harm evolves: CMS
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 10, 2024
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services remains acutely focused on patient harm and will introduce new measures addressing patient safety later this year, agency leaders said at an event in Baltimore...
[Updated] Providers bracing for CMS release of federal nursing home staffing mandate at ‘any time’
By
James M. Berklan
Kimberly Marselas
Aug 31, 2023
Nursing home leaders Wednesday were expecting details of a first-ever federal nursing home staffing mandate to be released at virtually any time.
Provider orgs caution finalized physician rule would be ‘existential threat’ to patient care
By
Jessica R. Towhey
Sep 11, 2023
A plan to cut doctors’ pay and bring more clinical oversight into nursing homes will decrease patient care and therapy, groups are warning.
Advocates work behind scenes to stop, reshape staffing rule as finalization nears
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 16, 2024
Several nursing home advocacy organizations have met with the White House Office of Management and Budget in recent days, angling to change the proposed minimum staffing rule that could be issued in final...
The staffing rule’s Swiss cheese factor
By
Kimberly Marselas
Sep 08, 2023
There’s a glaring hole in the proposed federal staffing mandate, and no, I’m not talking about that same blackhole that’s apparently sucked in 190,000 skilled nursing workers with no sign of spitting...
Expect another Five-Star freeze amid nursing home survey delays, experts warn
By
Kimberly Marselas
Feb 20, 2024
Staffing measures used to calculate nursing homes’ federal ratings will freeze in April, further complicating a system based on often outdated and constantly changing metrics, experts warned last week.
More than 80% of nursing homes do not meet the updated requirements in the final staffing mandate from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, according to new analysis from media outlet KFF. Those...