News

The U.S. Senate Finance Committee this morning took a rare look at timely topics affecting care center quality, safety, workforce and regulations by holding a "Not Forgotten: Protecting Americans From Abuse and Neglect in Nursing Homes" hearing in Washington DC.  

Bills have been reintroduced in Congress that permanently protect Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) recipients against spousal impoverishment.  

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the Provider Threshold Report (PTR). This new report for the Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program (SNF QRP) shows care centers if they are at risk of a 2 percent rate penalty for failure to meet the 80 percent reporting threshold requirement on the quality reporting measures during a calendar year.   

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) surprised all aging services providers on Feb. 21 by releasing version 12 of the MDS 3.0 Quality Measures (QM) User’s Manual. The most significant revisions focused on these key areas: 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced they are piloting a new Federal Monitoring Survey to replace the existing FOSS/FOQIS surveys. Under this pilot, federal oversight of surveys done by state agencies will be conducted primarily in three ways: 

A bipartisan bill to modify the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) training lock-out that is currently mandated in law was introduced this week by U.S. Representative Collin Peterson (D-MN) and U.S. Representative Sean Duffy (R-WI). The bill eliminates the statute’s rigid provisions and grants CMS greater flexibility in reinstating providers’ valuable CNA training programs.  

Responding to provider concerns, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is updating its new website for the Patient-Driven Payment Model and planning an earlier release of the RAI manual. 

After a brief government shutdown and continued uncertainty on a final appropriations bill, funding that supports affordable housing for seniors was signed into law this week. 

Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Provider Preview Reports are now available for review prior to the April 2019 Nursing Home Compare site refresh. Corrections to the underlying data are not permitted but providers can request a CMS review by March 4 if they believe their quality measure scores are being displayed inaccurately. 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued updated guidance concerning the federal emergency preparedness requirements Appendix Z of the State Operations Manual – Emergency Preparedness. The memorandum was effective Feb. 1, 2019, and CMS directed that its content be communicated to state agency survey staff within 30 days.  

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed policy changes supporting its MyHealthEData initiative to improve patient access and advance electronic data exchange and care coordination throughout the healthcare system. 

LeadingAge national has developed a quick glance tool that contains the deadlines Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) must meet for submitting data under the SNF Value-Based Payment  program, the SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP), and the Payroll-Based Journal reporting requirements.  

An agreement was reached last week to end the partial federal government shutdown and reopen affected agencies, including the U.S. Housing & Urban Development Department, for three weeks. 

In an interview with McKnight’s Long-Term Care News last week, LeadingAge national said that a growing threat of slightly smaller reimbursements for skilled nursing looms as the federal shutdown continues. 

Get equipped to battle the threat of cyber breaches with a new resource from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Resources (HHS) that showcases the five biggest threats and the 10 best practices for aging services providers. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced changes to Medicare Advantage plans that are designed to spur greater competition, improve quality and lower costs to attract beneficiaries. 

LeadingAge national has launched Regulatory Roundup 2.0, a quick and easy tracker to help find pertinent rules and federal regulations that cover all grounds for members across the long- term services and support continuum.   

The federal government shutdown has struck the U.S. House and Urban Development Department (HUD) faster than expected. HUD did not renew 650 rental assistance contracts up for renewal in December, and there are an additional 500 contracts up for renewal in January that will not be renewed. 

The inappropriate use of anti-psychotic medications among nursing home residents has continued to decline, according to the latest report by the National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care in Nursing Homes.  

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a new report that provides six key steps nursing homes can take to avoid preventable harm. The report comes out just as LeadingAge Minnesota is preparing the final details of its Safe Care for Seniors Programs that is set to launch in just a few short weeks.