Opponents of the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers are pursuing two fresh pathways to defeat it. Both challenges cite the pandemic’s current, less critical stage...
White House announces big nursing home COVID-19 vaccination push and providers push back
By
Joe Bush
Nov 23, 2022
The Biden administration on Tuesday announced a six-week $475 million campaign to raise the COVID-19 vaccination rate among nursing home residents, and the sector’s leaders responded immediately with...
Providers warned: Ongoing relief fund audits may bring unprecedented info demands
By
Joe Bush
Nov 21, 2022
Provider Relief Fund audits have started in earnest, with the threat of federal investigators demanding more and different data than most skilled nursing providers have ever been asked to account for.
States push CMS to repeal COVID-19 vaccine mandate
By
Kimberly Marselas
Lois A. Bowers
Nov 18, 2022
A coalition of 22 states is taking a new angle in its attempts to overturn a national mandate requiring that healthcare workers be vaccinated against COVID-19: They’re simply asking federal regulators...
CMS, OIG agree on increasing scrutiny of psychotropic drug use
By
Joe Bush
Nov 18, 2022
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will be increasing its oversight of the use of psychotropic drugs to pay closer attention to certain classes, warned the lead author of a federal report identifying...
More states moving to add extra layers of nursing home scrutiny
By
Joe Bush
Nov 15, 2022
The debut of the most recent new state dashboard shows the lengths states are going to in order to increase transparency into nursing home quality and operations.
More flexible CMS vaccine mandate enforcement cheers providers
By
Joe Bush
Oct 28, 2022
Nursing home advocates Thursday cheered news that federal regulators are relaxing their instructions to surveyors when checking for staff compliance with a federal vaccine mandate.
Senate leader who instigated SFF crackdown wants even tougher measures — and more funding — for...
By
Joe Bush
Oct 24, 2022
skilled nursing facilities, the key Senate leader who instigated the crackdown said he wanted even more oversight — as well as more funding — for providers.
Trauma care, drug-reduction prove ‘scary’ tasks as guidance deadline approaches
By
Joe Bush
Oct 21, 2022
As staff at skilled nursing facilities scramble to comply with hundreds of pages of interpretive guidance that kicks in Monday, experts warned that one major emphasis should be on meeting new standards...
‘We will not go back’ to early pandemic restriction, CMS leader says
By
Kimberly Marselas
Joe Bush
Oct 17, 2022
Promoting a return to normalcy, a top CMS official said Sunday that nursing homes will not return to the stringent isolation policies of the early pandemic.