nursing homes Archives - Page 2 of 9

A Blue-Ribbon Panel Calls Nursing Home Care “Ineffective, Inefficient, Fragmented, And Unsustainable”

A blue-ribbon panel of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine has issued a scathing report on the state of nursing homes in the US. Operators, owners, regulators, and payors all are failing patients and residents, the report said. “The way in which the United States finances, delivers, and regulates care in nursing home settings is ineffective, inefficient, fragmented, [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2022-04-06T17:10:28-04:00April 6th, 2022|nursing homes|0 Comments

Biden Proposes Major Nursing Home Reforms

The Biden Administration has proposed a wide range of changes in the regulation of nursing homes. They include efforts to require minimum staffing levels; limit shared rooms; enhance inspections, penalties, and transparency; and crack down on owners with a history of poor quality. The plan also would expand a technical assistance program to help operators improve their quality of care. [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2022-02-28T17:40:07-05:00February 28th, 2022|nursing homes|0 Comments

Consumers Are Getting New Information About Nursing Home Staffing But Need More

With nursing homes and other long-term care facilities desperately short of nurses and aides, it is more important than ever for consumers to know about staffing levels, quality, and turnover. But it has been difficult to get some key information. Now, the government has taken a modest step to help. In January, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2022-02-03T13:54:49-05:00February 3rd, 2022|nursing homes, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Market And Political Pressures Grow On Skilled Nursing Facilities

The covid-19 pandemic drove a collapse in both patient volume and revenue for post-acute care in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). And while patient numbers have increased modestly since the worst of the pandemic, they remain far below 2019 and probably are financially unsustainable for the SNFs. At the same time, bipartisan federal legislation in the House and Senate would create [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2021-12-02T11:14:37-05:00December 2nd, 2021|nursing homes, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Covid-19 May Have Increased Nursing Home Deaths By Nearly One-Third

How bad was the covid-19 pandemic for nursing homes residents? A new government study finds that 40 percent had the virus, or probably did. About 169,000 more Medicare residents died in the pandemic year of 2020 than in 2019, an increase in the overall death rate of about 32 percent. And in April 2020, about 1,000 more Medicare residents were [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2021-06-22T17:09:31-04:00June 22nd, 2021|nursing homes|0 Comments

The Federal Government Will Require Nursing Homes to Report Covid-19 Vaccine Rates for Staff And Residents

The federal agency that regulates nursing homes, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), will require facilities to publicly report covid-19 vaccination rates for staff and residents starting May 21. The rule is likely to press operators to boost staff vaccine rates to at least the 75 percent rate that industry trade groups have set as a goal Some [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2021-05-12T11:58:27-04:00May 12th, 2021|nursing homes|0 Comments

The High Cost of Loneliness: The Other Price Older Adults Are Paying For Covid-19

For months, families and operators of long-term care facilities have been telling me about the indirect toll the covid-19 pandemic has taken on residents. Not on those who have sickened or died from the virus, but on those whose quality of life has been severely harmed by the social isolation it caused. Now, we are beginning to learn more about [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2021-03-25T11:08:27-04:00March 25th, 2021|nursing homes|0 Comments

As The Policy Debate Over Nursing Homes Heats Up, Operators Are On The Defensive

In the wake of the devastating effects of covid-19 on nursing home residents and their staffs, pressure is building on long-term care facilities from congressional Democrats who are exploring ways to accelerate the shift of Medicaid long-term services and supports from nursing facilities to home and community based services (HCBS). Some states are demanding tougher health and safety rules. And [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2021-03-19T13:49:37-04:00March 19th, 2021|nursing homes|0 Comments

What The Divorce Of The Nation’s Biggest Nursing Home Operator And Owner Means

In a bombshell announcement, the real estate investment trust (REIT) Welltower—the biggest owner of nursing homes in the US-- is divorcing from Genesis Healthcare—the nation’s biggest operator of nursing facilities. At same the same, Genesis, whose share price has plummeted in recent years, announced it is delisting from the New York Stock Exchange. It is common for REITs to own [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2021-03-03T17:52:02-05:00March 3rd, 2021|nursing homes, Uncategorized|0 Comments

How To Get Long-Term Care Workers To Take The Covid-19 Vaccine

As of Monday, only about 22 percent of the covid-19 vaccine doses that have been distributed for use in long-term care facilities have made their way into the arms of residents and staff. As has been well documented, these residents—nearly all with pre-existing medical conditions and functional and cognitive impairment-- are the most vulnerable to serious illness and death from [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2021-01-13T14:57:02-05:00January 13th, 2021|nursing homes|8 Comments