Gov. Quinn has boosted nursing home funding by millions of dollars to help carry out safety reforms passed in 2010. This is because the state won’t have to touch its own coffers to distribute the cash. Read More »
The industry is focused on reducing hospital readmissions and improving patient and staff satisfaction, AHCA/NCAL said. However, those goals may be in jeopardy with the likelihood of diminishing reimbursement. Read More »
With margins averaging 18.5 percent in 2010, MedPAC contends SNFs are making a killing on Medicare. Under the proposed rebasing plan, there would be a zero update in 2013, followed by an initial reduction of four percent in 2014. Read More »
The drug maker was accused of providing state officials kickbacks in exchange for including its Risperdal antipsychotic drug on an approved list for Medicaid recipients. Read More »
The Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care decried MedPAC’s recommendations, calling them a “failure to recognize the obvious link between Medicare and Medicaid in financing SNF care.” Read More »
The CBO estimates that if the Medicare eligibility age was raised to 67, annual federal spending on Medicare would be reduced by $148 billion from 2012 through 2021. Read More »
Already faced with the prospect of absorbing $127 billion in Medicare funding reductions through 2021, the long-term care industry may find itself confronted with even more strife in the year ahead. Read More »
The Detroit Free Press ran a provocative overview on the state of Michigan nursing home quality. And the Star Tribune reported on Minnesota granting waivers to former criminals seeking employment in nursing homes. Read More »
Provider groups have been saying this for years: Skilled nursing facilities cannot survive another round of cuts. (Actually, it’s usually stated more Read More »
It came as no great surprise last week when Donald Berwick, MD, announced his resignation as administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Read More »
It’s going to be a long weekend for certain members of Congress. The bi-partisan 12-member “super committee,” tasked with finding $1.2 trillion in Read More »
The warnings have been well reported up to this point. Unfortunately, providers have little say in the matters of Medicaid and the transformations Read More »
Donald Berwick wants you to forget about the current strife in Washington and get back to the basics: “better health, better care, lower costs”—the Read More »
October 1st is looming. That dreaded date, what with its Medicare cuts, is causing facilities to scramble and evaluate budget savings and other Read More »
Medicaid is in transition—many would say crisis—and skilled nursing providers attending a panel discussion Monday at the 62nd Annual AHCA/NCAL Read More »
Rat Pack tribute? Check. Cheesy Elvis impersonator? Check. Scantily clad showgirls? But of course. It’s conference week in Las Vegas for the Read More »
The final SNF PPS rule for FY2012 published in August will cause all operational professionals to stop and think about their implementation plans for Read More »
Wow, we are closing in on one year of using the MDS 3.0 and are finally getting the “hang of it” with all the changes that occurred with its Read More »
Janet Gerber, RN-BC Mathematically, I have always “assumed” that if you were dividing a whole into “quarters” that would mean you would have four Read More »
Bob Gatty The long-term care industry is now facing an 11.1 percent Medicare payment reduction to SNFs for 2012 in new rates to be implemented Read More »
October 1, 2011, is the day that an 11.1 percent reduction in Medicare payments to SNFs is implemented. It’s when we really begin feeling the pain. Read More »
Everyone needs a good sounding board. For many nurses, that forum is oftentimes a listserv. In commemoration of last year's big MDS package, Read More »
Facility staff empathizes with the pain and discomfort of the resident with incontinence, but they frequently do not have the opportunity to discuss Read More »
