News

The Veterans' Administration (VA) released new rates for CY 2023 that are effective for care delivered on and after Feb. 1. Nationally, adult day services (ADS) rates increased by 7%, then adjusted by the location's wage index. In about ten locations, VA medical centers (VAMC) asked the VA to freeze CY 2022 rates for CY 2023, and these requests were approved; most of the locations were in Northern California.

According to recent news from the White House, the federal Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division's proposed overtime rule will now be published in May. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was initially slated for April 2022 but then delayed to October that year. The May goal represents a second delay.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tasked its Vaccine and other Related Biologicals Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) to review proposals related to COVID-19 vaccines. Items scheduled for review include changing the primary vaccine doses to the bivalent vaccine and whether the composition and schedule for booster doses should be adjusted.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released tools to assist nursing homes in implementing enhanced barrier precautions. The resources include an EBP webinar and PowerPoint handout, an EBP pre-implementation tool, an observation tool, an observation tool summary, and several different letter templates, all available on the website.

A recent federal court case regarding a wrongful death claim is a good reminder for all providers: check the expiration dates on your insurance policies.

Changes to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) civil penalty amounts based on cost-of-living adjustments for 2023 went into effect on Jan. 17.

On Jan. 17, CMS survey staff leaders notified our national partners at LeadingAge that they are automating parts of the process for creating and sending letters to nursing homes for imposed Civil Monetary Penalties (CMPs). There is no underlying CMP policy change being made.

On Jan. 5, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to prohibit employers from imposing noncompete clauses on workers. Noncompete clauses or agreements block people from working for a competing employer or starting a competing business after their current employment ends.

As HUD readies its new NSPIRE housing inspection protocol, the agency has begun to share details of the Real Estate Assessment Center's (REAC) new protocol implementation, scheduled for October 2023.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will host the first Nursing Home Stakeholder Call of the new year on Thursday, Jan. 5 at 2 p.m. CST. The discussion will focus on post-acute care quality reporting programs. The event is open to the public; registration is required. After you register, you will receive zoom information.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report outlining the potentially inappropriate use of several psychotropic medications, including antipsychotics, anxiolytics, sedative-hypnotics, and anticonvulsants. As a result, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to increase its oversight of psychotropic drugs and focus more closely on certain drug classes.

The thirteen edition of the Really Big Book of Nursing Home Regulations is finally here and ready to go! It is now available for order.

The Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition has issued its first recommendations to address the key recommendations outlined in the April 2022 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report – The National Imperative to Improve Nursing Home Quality: Honoring Our Commitment to Residents, Families, and Staff. 

In response to a USAToday investigative report published on Dec. 1, 2022, examining staffing levels in nursing homes ("Many nursing homes are poorly staffed. How do they get away with it?"), LeadingAge CEO and President Katie Smith Sloan passionately defended the nation's long-term care and skilled nursing operators. She reiterated, "[f]inger pointing and blame helps no one. It's time for a clear-eyed, fact-based approach to ensure older Americans and families can access the quality nursing home care they deserve."

On Nov. 28, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a new QSO memo to hospitals (QSO-23-04-Hospitals) on workplace violence and prevention. While there is no enforcement change for nursing homes within the new memo, one violence prevention expert noted, “[nursing homes] would do well to heed new CMS messaging. The ongoing stress of working short-staffed, and even the holidays themselves, can make healthcare facilities an even more vulnerable environment, safety experts said this week.”

The US Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division announced it had recovered more than $28.6 million in back wages and damages for nearly 25,000 workers since it launched a focused initiative in 2021. The effort has led to assessments of almost $1.3 million in civil monetary penalties for employers who willfully violated federal law. The most common violations discovered by investigators were failures to pay overtime or federal minimum wages and misclassifying employees as independent contractors.

An article published on Nov. 15 in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (JAMDA) discusses the need to reimagine infection control within nursing homes to keep pace with rising acuity and multiple comorbidities in today’s residents to remain effective.

When Congress convenes next January, the United States will return to a divided government with narrow margins of control in both the US House and US Senate. In the House, Republicans will retake the majority over Democrats. In the Senate, the Democrats will maintain a one or two-vote margin over the Republicans, pending a run-off election in Georgia.

Argentum, our national partner for assisted living providers, will host its annual Public Policy Institute March 6-8 at the Hotel Monaco in Washington, DC. Registration for the event is now open.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG), a division of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced an additional investigation as part of its 2022 work plan. Its added focus will be on whether skilled nursing facility residents were hospitalized with certain conditions and whether the facility provided services per the resident’s care plan and professional standards of practice.