BREAKING: CMS ends nurse aide certification waiver, many other COVID-19 allowances
By
Danielle Brown
Apr 07, 2022
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is restoring training requirements for nurse aides who work at skilled nursing facilities after waiving them early during the COVID-19 crisis.
CMS to nursing homes: Enjoy the holidays but stay vigilant
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 24, 2021
CMS has suggestions on how to handle visitation while keeping infection control and prevention principles top of mind during the holidays.
BREAKING: Feds partner with CVS, Walgreens to provide pending COVID-19 vaccinations to all senior care...
By
James M. Berklan
Oct 16, 2020
Residents and workers of all long-term care settings will receive free vaccinations against the coronavirus onsite under a special public-private partnership with pharmaceutical giants CVS and Walgreens,...
Providers must take more nuanced approach to visitors, CMS nursing home chief warns
By
Kimberly Marselas
Oct 13, 2021
OXON HILL, MD — Federal regulators are expecting nursing homes to do more to “maximize visitation,” according to a top official at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Minnix: CMS administrator vacancy delaying possible Five-Star rating system changes
Apr 22, 2009
The absence of a chief at the helm of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services may be stymieing providers’ attempts to persuade federal regulators to modify the new Five-Star Quality Rating System...
BREAKING: Nursing home commission makes 27 recommendations, calls for ‘greater leadership role’...
By
James M. Berklan
Sep 16, 2020
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released recommendations from the Coronavirus Commission on Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes on Wednesday and, as expected, they contain a laundry list of...
Thousands of nursing homes face lower Five-Star ratings with changes to staffing stars
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jul 11, 2022
New Five-Star scoring metrics could penalize an estimated 10% to 16% of providers who have relied on staffing strengths to drive their overall ratings.
With omicron spreading fast, officials implore nursing home providers to push COVID-19 booster shots
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 07, 2022
The surgeon general and CMS administrator Brooks-LaSure urged providers to “cut through the noise” about vaccines as outbreaks increase across facilities. Less than 28% of staff have gotten...
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.
$3T stimulus proposal calls for MFAR delay, 14% FMAP increase, $500M SNF ‘strike team’ fund
By
Danielle Brown
May 14, 2020
A Medicaid proposal that providers say could cut up to $50 billion nationwide from the program annually would be barred from being finalized during the coronavirus pandemic under a $3 trillion stimulus...