CMS lowers pay hike for skilled nursing facilities to 1.2%
By
James M. Berklan
Jul 31, 2015
Medicare skilled nursing facilities would get a net 1.2% pay increase — totaling $430 million — in fiscal 2016 under a final rule issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services late Thursday.
Nursing home operators hail ‘historic’ Senate passage of permanent ‘doc fix’...
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 15, 2015
The Senate overwhelmingly voted to pass H.R. 2 Tuesday night, paving the way for repeal of the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate and drawing the praise of the largest nursing home association in the country.
‘Observation status’ provision under further review
By
John Hall
Feb 27, 2015
The American Health Care Association on Thursday applauded a House measure that would inform Medicare beneficiaries of their observation status as hospital inpatient or outpatients. But that might be little...
RAC groups battle provider plea for short-stay payment relief
By
John Hall
Feb 19, 2015
Third-party firms that audit Medicare bills for payment issues are pushing back hard against a hospital association plea for more favorable short-stay reimbursements, adding to the ongoing unwelcome specter...
Dual eligibles more likely to go from hospitals to lower quality nursing homes, referral process might...
By
Tim Mullaney
May 27, 2014
People eligible both for Medicare and Medicaid go to lower-quality nursing homes after being hospitalized at a rate higher than Medicare-only patients, according to researchers from Brown and Harvard universities.
Dedicated observation stay units could protect nursing home benefits, save hospitals $1 billion annually,...
By
Tim Mullaney
Dec 06, 2013
Specialized hospital units for patients under observation status could dramatically reduce the number of seniors forced to pay out-of-pocket for skilled nursing care, according to findings in the current...
Minnesota nursing homes have lowest rate of hospitalizations, Mississippi and Louisiana the highest,...
By
Tim Mullaney
Sep 20, 2013
The rate at which nursing home residents are hospitalized bears a close relationship to how well a state provides healthcare for low-income people, according to a new report from the private research foundation...
LTC Commission wins praise for recommendations, but some members say the group failed to complete mission
By
Tim Mullaney
Sep 16, 2013
Long-term care advocates have praised a set of recommendations issued by the Congressional Commission on Long-Term Care, but some commissioners broke ranks, saying the panel did not fulfill its mandate.
Increases in knee replacement surgeries, readmissions and infections jump, study reveals
By
McKnight's Staff
Sep 27, 2012
The number of first-time knee replacement surgeries among Medicare enrollees jumped 162% in the last 20 years, at a cost of roughly $9 billion annually to payers, a new study finds.
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.