Robert Gatty
Robert Gatty has more than 40 years of experience in journalism, politics and business communications and is the founder and president of G-Net Strategic Communications based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He can be reached at bob@gattyedits.com.
End delay, VA is told
Lawmakers push the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to ease long-term care (LTC) red tape for military vets to obtain healthcare services. But what are the prospects for accessibility to LTC services? Read More » Sense and reason prevail at CMS
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is set to drop doctors’ face-to-face narrative requirement for home health coverage. Read More » Direct-care workers in the Washington spotlight
Improved training, background checks and pay scales for direct-care workers are being addressed on Capitol Hill. Read More » Therapy cap insanity on Capitol Hill
Will Congress ever fix the therapy caps problem? Long-Term Living Washington writer Bob Gatty takes a fresh look at an ongoing problem. Read More » Feds keep the pressure on
A new “doc fix” law and MedPAC report seek to tighten spending for long-term care facilities. Read More » Proposed budget cuts concern LTC groups
Long-term care provider associations express appreciation for the proposed 2015 budget’s support of some senior housing and services but disappointment in potential program cuts. Read More » Congress continues to wrangle with Medicare, Medicaid issues
Medicare physicians will automatically see a 24 percent reduction in pay if Congress does not act by March 31. Read More » CMS clarifies use of Medicaid funds in home, community-based settings
Stakeholder input helps CMS improve the accessibility of services for seniors and people with disabilities. Read More » Killing the SGR and therapy caps
Congress may be ready to do away with the sustainable growth rate (SGR), re-fix the “doc fix” and ditch therapy caps, but will skilled nursing become the scapegoat for the costs? Read More » Congress acts to fix the Medicare SGR
A plan by Congress may finally fix sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula issues for physicians, but long-term care and outpatient therapy services could suffer in the process. Read More » AHCA/NCAL finds a new voice in Washington
In an exclusive interview with Long-Term Living's Washington reporter, AHCA/NCAL’s new vice president of government relations, Clif Porter, explains his strategy to contact members, discuss their experiences and concerns, using that direct input to generate support in Congress. Read More » 3-day hospital stays, hospice surveys under scrutiny
Industry leadership weighs in on proposed “observation stays” legislation and increasing the frequency of hospice recertification surveys. Read More » OIG recommends revision of proposed CMS rule
The passage of the Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2013 could resolve beneficiaries’ access to SNF care with revision of CMS rule on observation stays. Read More » Capitol defense: United LTC industry tackles Washington challenges
Washington correspondent Bob Gatty shares his recent conversation with Mark Parkinson, AHCA president/CEO, on LTC's efforts to bring equitable solutions to Washington's challenges. Read More » CMS’ plans to reform payment to post-acute healthcare cause concern
CMS’ plans for payment reform designed to cut costs in the post-acute sector for the FY2014 budget may be a cause of concern for the long-term care industry. Read More » Congress updated on AHCA’s Quality Initiative
Earlier this month, long-term care leaders briefed Congress on the positive accomplishments and future goals to improving quality of care in skilled nursing facilities. Read More » Industry leaders weigh in on President Obama’s FY2014 budget proposal
This summer will be a busy one as Congress deliberates the 2014 budget and how, without revisions, its proposed cuts to Medicare may affect the physicians, hospitals and long-term care providers. Read More » LTC industry applauds legislation to roll back therapy caps
Legislation that would roll back caps on therapy services to seniors in skilled nursing centers has been introduced in both the House and Senate and is being applauded by an industry reeling from one payment reduction after another. Read More » LTC industry faces cascade of spending cuts; thousands of jobs in jeopardy
Some $85 billion in across-the-board cuts in federal programs are expected to take place between March 1 and September 30 unless Congress, with some form of last minute heroics, can cut a deal to avoid those reductions, mandated by law, from being imposed. Read More » Washington budget fight has LTC industry fretting over more cuts
The fiscal cliff battle is behind us, but the nation is heading to another possible financial crisis caused largely by politics, and the nursing home sector—and their residents—could well be caught in the middle. Read More » Are SNFs causing their own headaches?
MedPAC proposes more cuts for 2014, and the skilled nursing industry objects. But the GAO issues a report that can only make the industry’s case more difficult. Read More » LTC industry seeks to avert fiscal cliff
The long-term care industry, concerned about the impact of potentially devastating “fiscal cliff” federal funding cuts, has launched a broad offensive in hopes of convincing Congress and President Obama to reach a deal that will prevent those reductions from being imposed. Read More » LTC industry uses election campaign to combat federal program cuts
With the national elections drawing ever closer, the long-term care industry continues to turn up the heat on lawmakers, urging them to avoid additional cuts in federal funds for programs that support services to the elderly. Read More » LTC industry launches campaign to fight budget cuts
The long-term care industry has launched a campaign to oppose "devastating" sequestration cuts. An AHCA ad campaign came less than a week after the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a report detailing how federal agencies would implement the $110 billion in mandatory, across-the-board budget cuts for 2013. Read More » Giving with one hand, taking away with the other
The SNF Medicare increase is approved, but unless Congress acts it will be gone. Election season is a good time to do something about it. Read More » The aftermath of the ACA: What a complicated mess!
It was a large group of states with GOP governors whose challenge of the ACA led to the Supreme Court’s ruling, and many of them have either decided, or reportedly may decide, to forgo the additional federal payments that would come from expanding Medicaid eligibility in their states. Read More » A bitter battle on Capitol Hill
Another bitter battle is brewing on Capitol Hill over how to prevent student loan interest rates from increasing from the current 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1, and believe it or not, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities may be asked to help pay the tab. Read More » AL providers consider negative effects of community-based rules
According to NCAL, both proposed rules would disqualify a community-based provider, such as assisted living or a group home, from participating in Medicaid because they are on or near a property containing an institutional setting. Read More » OIG targets nursing homes in 2012
Many LTC facilities and hospices across the nation will be affected by the Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG’s) work plan underway for 2012. Here’s an overview of key initiatives. Read More » 