States need to step up with nurse aide waiver clearer, providers say
By
Kimberly Marselas
Aug 31, 2022
The formal extension of a waiver program that relaxes certification requirements for some nurse aides was widely embraced by providers a day after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced...
CMS outlines 4-pronged minimum staffing study
By
Kimberly Marselas
Aug 23, 2022
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Monday revealed more details about how it will use nursing home site visits, data and other tools to formulate a minimum staffing standard, one that is meant...
More nursing home cuts buried deep in CMS physician fee schedule
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jul 12, 2022
Healthcare providers, including doctors and physicians who treat nursing home patients, continue to find more troubling details in the 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.
Nursing homes become ‘high-risk,’ owners to be fingerprinted under new doc pay rule proposal
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jul 08, 2022
Nursing home owners could face heightened background screening requirements under a proposal tucked more than 1,000 pages into a huge new proposed physician pay rule released Thursday.
CMS doubles down: Surveyors do not have to be COVID vaccinated
By
James M. Berklan
Jul 07, 2022
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has held audiences with skilled nursing providers, made presentations and entertained comments in recent months to assure operators that regulatory actions...
Nursing homes see the buck passed — the wrong way
By
James M. Berklan
Jun 09, 2022
Always at the mercy of government regulators and payments, nursing home operators are getting a classic lesson in what “passing the buck” means these days.
Providers: CMS should first fortify skilled nursing workforce before imposing minimum staffing measures
By
Danielle Brown
Jun 07, 2022
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must first help the long-term care industry build up its workforce before implementing a national minimum staffing standard for nursing homes, many providers...
The summer of our nursing homes’ discontent
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 01, 2022
Memorial Day weekend usually ushers in a feeling of lightness, but I’m weighed down by uncertainty this year. Will it be a summer of discontent?
Feds’ spotlight on owners could detract from patient focus, experts warn
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 21, 2022
An effort to improve transparency into nursing home ownership took a major leap forward when federal officials posted previously non-public data Wednesday. But providers and legal experts cautioned that...
CMS ‘heartless’ for its big nursing home pay cut proposal
By
Danielle Brown
Apr 12, 2022
Providers are struggling with the federal government’s “heartless” decision to decrease pay for SNFs by $320 million in fiscal 2023.