Healthcare, Senior Living, Economics
rhislop3 Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold introduced a bill today targeted at “improving the quality of care in nursing homes”. The bill was introduced by Feingold in response to the efforts of the Wisconsin Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (WAHSA – non-profit, industry trade association) to have the federal government investigate the wide discrepancies … Read more
Funny title that is rather misleading given the gravity of the health care/post-acute care provisions that are included in this bill. As is the case in Washington, especially these days, important health care provisions not addressed in the PPACA are coming forward in other bills; particularly bills involving unemployment benefits and COBRA benefits, etc. Such is … Read more
The title of this post likely appears a tad bifurcated but as you read through it, the title should make a bit more sense. In the past two weeks, I’ve had numerous conversations with potential buyer’s looking at or for (to acquire), senior housing projects (AL, IL, some CCRC and a few SNFs). Invariably, the conversations … Read more
I had a phone conversation earlier today with a friend and colleague (he’s part owner of a rehab consulting and management company) and as we talked, the conversation reminded me about the host of issues facing health care administrators. Our conversation flowed to long-term care and specifically, SNFs (he spends a lot of his time … Read more
My firm (Grubb & Ellis/Apex Healthcare) is conducting a quick and simple research project, surveying health care providers regarding the costs incurred during their preparation for the H1N1 pandemic that never occurred. We’d like anyone from a hospital, nursing home, assisted living facility, hospice, home health agency, physician’s practice, ambulance service, etc. to give us a brief … Read more
In 1998, CMS created the Special Focus Facility initiative or program designed to target or focus attention on improving the poorest performing facilities (performance defined by survey/compliance history). Each state selects up to 15 of the poorest performing facilities until the program reaches its cap or maximum of 136 facilities. The requirements from CMS to … Read more
My last post covered CMS’ proposed rule affecting LTAcHs in fiscal year 2011 (October 1, 2010). In this post I noted that CMS’ proposed rule included a disclaimer that any impacts related to the PPACA (health reform) were not included and as a result, CMS would from time to time, release updates providing additional guidance. … Read more
Yesterday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its proposed rule for rates and other policy changes for FY 2011 (October 1, 2010) as applicable to Medicare inpatient stays within long-term acute care hospitals (LTAcH). The entire rule can be found at http://www.federalregister.gov/inspection.aspx#special. In their release, CMS noted that the proposed rule does … Read more
When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) became law, a provision within adds a new dimension to the rules on self-referral and refund requirements of overpayment (Medicare) contained within the Stark Law. Specifically, the PPACA requires the Secretary of HHS to develop a new self-disclosure protocol whereby health care providers can disclose known (or found) … Read more
As a follow-up to a post from last week regarding pending cuts in Part B therapy rates, last evening the House passed a bill that the Senate had passed earlier in the day, included within is a provision to delay the pending cuts to the physician fee schedule until June 1. The provision is tucked … Read more