CMS defends pre-authorization policy for power wheelchairs
Sep 26, 2012
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ officials told members of the Senate Special Aging Committee that the program is needed because 80% of the claims submitted for wheelchairs fail to meet...
Medicare defends power wheelchair pre-authorization policy
By
McKnight's Staff
Sep 20, 2012
Federal health officials defended a demonstration program that requires Medicare pre-authorization for power wheelchairs in a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
Frequent testing of risk models strengthens Medicare fraud prevention systems, official says
By
McKnight's Staff
Sep 20, 2012
Increasingly sophisticated fraud prevention systems are allowing the federal government to zero in on suspect billing in long-term care facilities, an official said Tuesday.
When CMS turns carrots into sticks
By
John O'Connor
Sep 17, 2012
The revised hospital payment system technically hasn’t begun yet. But that doesn’t mean senior living operators shouldn’t find a dark cloud around this silver lining.
California nabs federal funding for home- and community-based program for Medicaid beneficiaries
By
McKnight's Staff
Sep 10, 2012
California is the first state to get regulatory approval for a federally funded program aimed at keeping elderly and disabled individuals out of nursing homes.
Why are more RAC audits happening? There are trillions of reasons
By
John O'Connor
Sep 10, 2012
Recovery audit contractors are stepping up their efforts to review Medicare billings. This appears to be a classic case of auditors gone wild.
CMS should modernize hospital admission status policies, say provider groups
By
McKnight's Staff
Sep 07, 2012
Provider groups assert regulators should update existing policies when determining hospital inpatient and outpatient admission status.
Shining some light on the new Five Star system
By
Steven Littlehale
Sep 05, 2012
The Five Star overall score is comprised of three domains: Survey, Staffing and Quality Measures. This month, look a little deeper into the overall Five Star Scores.
Provider group pushes for observation stay loophole fix
By
McKnight's Staff
Sep 05, 2012
A long-term care group is urging regulators to continue work on fixing the “observation stay loophole” that makes it harder for Medicare beneficiaries to get nursing home care.
Nursing Home Inspect adds 16,000 deficiency reports to database
By
McKnight's Staff
Aug 30, 2012
The developers of the online Nursing Home Inspect updated its database this week to allow consumers to comb through 134,602 nursing home inspection deficiencies.