LTC visitor data: Home health, hospice care held steady while family visits plummeted
By
Diane Eastabrook
May 04, 2022
An analysis of sign-ins at 6,000 SNFs and senior living facilities found that third-party care such as home health visits remained consistent during the pandemic, while family visits were curtailed.
Reform payment to compel hiring, home-like changes: expert
By
Danielle Brown
May 03, 2022
Lawmakers must first tackle “relatively low” Medicaid reimbursement rates for nursing homes if they want to prod providers into hiring more staff, adopting more home-like models of care and improving...
Feds might dictate minimums nursing homes must spend on direct care workers
By
Danielle Brown
Apr 21, 2022
CHICAGO — The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is considering requiring nursing homes to spend a minimum amount of federal Medicaid reimbursement dollars on direct care workers as the agency...
‘Monumental achievement’: Providers back Medicaid increases tied to staffing
By
Danielle Brown
Apr 08, 2022
Illinois nursing homes are in line for a $700 million funding increase if a Medicaid funding bill gets a key stamp of approval from lawmakers this week.
CMS to pay for second booster shots for Medicare beneficiaries
By
Amy Novotney
Apr 07, 2022
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Wednesday that it will pay for a second COVID-19 booster shot of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for all Medicare beneficiaries.
States must rethink nursing home financing to drive transition to managed care: report
By
Danielle Brown
Apr 04, 2022
States must change the way they pay for nursing home services as they transition to managed care, and luckily they have multiple options to do so, according to a new report released Friday by Advancing...
Clinical briefs for Wednesday, March 30
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 30, 2022
Senators want answers on Medicaid recipients’ low vaccination rates … FDA approves diabetes drug Ozempic (semaglutide) in 2 mg dose … COVID-19 infection plus flu a dangerous combination: study …...
Medicaid continues shift away from SNF care
By
Danielle Brown
Mar 08, 2022
Medicaid spending on home-and-community based services out-gained spending on institutional care, like nursing homes, for a seventh year in a row, according to a new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Researchers: Remote patient monitoring, telehealth saved lives during pandemic
By
Diane Eastabrook
Feb 28, 2022
Wider use of hospital-at-home and other acute-care programs has helped reduce patients’ exposure to the coronavirus and free up hospital beds for sicker patients. The technologies should be more...
Link Medicaid hikes to worker pay to promote staff equity, researchers say
By
Kimberly Marselas
Feb 08, 2022
Tying increases in state Medicaid rates to wages would be an important way to address the disproportionate representation of Black women in long-term care’s lowest paying positions, say researchers...