3 Nursing Home Legal Issues To Watch In 2022 And Beyond

CMS should be careful in what it asks for

Dec 23, 2022

CMS should be careful in what it asks for Those in the nursing home sector are worried a potential staffing mandate imposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services could be the ruination of a reeling sector. However, there is an...

Provider advocates slam ‘unfair’ media take down of nursing home staffing compliance

Dec 1, 2022

A major provider organization Thursday called out a newspaper’s national investigation into nursing home staffing as “unfair and mischaracterized.”

USA Today’s lengthy article focused on staffing benchmarks set by federal agencies, understaffing of facilities and the harm it causes residents and staff, and the low percentage of citations compared to the number of understaffed facilities the paper found in its investigation.

“We are extremely disappointed in USA Today’s unfair and mischaracterized reporting,” AHCA leaders said. “The analysis that USA Today bases their claims on is flawed.”

CMS to ‘Crack Down’ on Troubled Nursing Homes Through Special Focus Facility Program Changes

Oct 30, 2022

In its latest move to increase scrutiny of the skilled nursing industry, the Biden administration is toughening requirements for nursing homes that fall into its Special Focus Facilities (SFF) program.

Specifically, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is making completion requirements more challenging and increasing enforcement actions if SNFs fail to show improvement, according to a statement issued by the federal agency on Friday.

The minimum staffing cloud looms. Will any sunlight shine through?

Oct 26, 2022

As the leaves start to fall in many parts of the US, so has something else: Hope that a rule establishing minimum staffing levels in nursing homes won’t happen in spring.

It’s become abundantly clear over the past few months that the administration will not be deterred from its mission. It will soon tell nursing facilities how many people they have to have to run their businesses. Long-term care’s biggest figureheads have acknowledged as much and have started planning for the next steps.

MedPAC’s recommendations: state staffing policies could hamper federal mandate

Sep 30, 2022

A federal minimum staffing mandate is on the horizon for nursing homes at the beginning of 2023. Providers and experts wonder just how the proposed mandate might address historic staffing shortages without resources or support.

Study: Nursing Home Staffing in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods

Aug 30, 2022

Nursing home staffing in severely disadvantaged neighborhoods is significantly lower than staffing in more well-off neighborhoods, according to a new study in which the LTSS Center participated.

CMS starts study to support minimum staffing proposal

Aug 30, 2022

There was a stark, though not at all unexpected, dichotomy between participants in Monday’s listening session to gather input on coming nursing home staff minimums.

On the one hand, you had consumer advocates — armed with the Biden administration’s aggressive reform push and 20 years of resentment about perceived understaffing — ready to throw fuel on the fire.

And on the other, there were nursing home leaders from major organizations, mid-sized chains and tiny, independent facilities in rural settings pleading with federal regulators to douse the flames.

Where a resident advocate might see the potential for more staffing rules to help nursing homes rise from the ashes of COVID, providers are legitimately worried that a well-intentioned but under-supported mandate might just burn the sector down for good.

Medicaid nursing facility payment approaches

Aug 25, 2022

CMS encourages states to
assess their approach to payments to long-term care providers and utilize flexibilities provided
by section 1902(a)(30)(A) of the Social Security Act (the Act) in establishing Medicaid base and
supplemental payments, as appropriate, to provide adequate, performance-driven nursing facility
rates

CMS reveals differing opinions on minimum staffing approach

Aug 10, 2022

A study meant to underpin a new federal nursing home staffing minimum will last about seven months and end in December, a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services official said Thursday.

That confirmation came during an Open Door Forum conference call Thursday, and amid a fierce, ongoing debate how mandated staffing levels can be equitably determined at all.

Nursing Home Staffing Regulations, Proposals Clash With Financial, Operational Realities

Jul 28, 2022

Providers in states from Virginia to New York are pushing back on the requirements they say threaten their ability to provide the best care for residents. The Georgia Health Care Association (GHCA) opposes implementing a “one size fits all” approach to regulating its providers’ staffing levels.

Why States’ Success in Tying Medicaid to Staffing Could Propel CMS Policy

Jul 5, 2022

While establishing stronger staffing standards for nursing homes continues to be a top priority in the minds of federal leaders, few in the industry see it as a viable or sustainable path forward.

Unable to sustain unfunded mandates, senior living advocate and policy expert Brian Perry thinks tying increased reimbursement on a state-by-state level is a great “first step” but fixing the problem at the macro level is also needed.

CMS Issues Significant Updates to Improve the Safety and Quality Care for Long-Term Care Residents

Jun 30, 2022

the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued updates to guidance on minimum health and safety standards that Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities (often called “nursing homes”) must meet to participate in Medicare and Medicaid.

CMS also updated and developed new guidance in the State Operations Manual (SOM) to address issues that significantly affect residents of LTC facilities.