Policy and Politics – Federal

Information and discussion on general federal health policy and politics – including Medicare, Health Reform and all other subjects Fed.

SNF Staffing, Mandates, and More

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Seema Verma, former CMS head, spoke out yesterday regarding the proposed staffing mandate (hours and type of staff, per resident per day) proposed rule, indicating her opinion that the approach was flawed. A recap article on her comments is here: https://www.mcknights.com/news/former-cms-chief-verma-regulators-over-their-skis-with-staffing-mandate/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NWLTR_MLT_DAILYUPDATE_110223&hmEmail=IjP1GPaY%2BJ2uvsLxTJ79bVeRWY7ycbnr&sha256email=aa4cb7c695037c31a216b9562788596b6fcd012145d566f31440b6fcd139c8a9 Regular readers know that I have covered various topics on healthcare staffing, particularly as … Read more

MedPAC and Medicare Advantage

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In yesterday’s post, Mish-Mash Monday, in the section about the House Budget Committee’s Health Care Task Force, I offered some commentary regarding MedPAC (Medicare Payment Advisory Commission) and Medicare Advantage plans. I also included a letter from the senior living trade association LeadingAge to the Congressional task force that references MedPAC’s concerns regarding Medicare Advantage … Read more

Friday Feature: Important COVID Criminal Case Dismissed

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Ten days ago, I wrote a post about COVID litigation and how it was not only mounting but also morphing in terms of scope. Cases were predominantly focused on responsibility for infections at the senior living end such as, my ‘family member’ caught COVID at XYZ Manor and died, so therefore XYZ Manor is responsible … Read more

Medicare Advantage – Status Update

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Medicare Advantage plans or Medicare Part C and D plans continue to grow in popularity. I’ve written a number of posts on various Medicare Advantage topics, of late, coverage issues and denials, particularly for post-acute care stays. A recent post on that topic is here: https://wp.me/ptUlY-wI Medicare Advantage plans (Part C plans) include Parts A, … Read more

Friday Feature: Sr. Living, Health Care, and COVID Litigation

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Yesterday’s post was related to the beginnings of COVID, particularly the Biden Administration’s pandemic response plan. Just as Biden entered office, his administration released the response plan and the post (yesterday) included a recording of a podcast I did on the plan, COVID vaccine rollouts, etc. Coming a bit closer to full circle, the pandemic … Read more

COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness: Redux

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As COVID-19 has moved to an endemic phase (constant presence, not spreading out of control or taxing health care resources), I’ve started to look back at what transpired since early-2020 and what was learned, known, and now, embedded (perhaps) in our culture and our health care industry. Suffice to say, the review is somewhat mind … Read more

How Much is Enough? Deficits, Debt, and a Look Into the Future

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Lately, I’ve gotten quite a bit of 70s (1970s) deja vu. Yes, I’m old enough to vividly remember the 70s as I crossed the decade as a teenager, graduating high school and almost, college. If one has my memories, the 70s were pretty turbulent times, analogous to now. In 1973, Israel and the Arab (Egypt … Read more

AZ Pandemic Related Case – Watchlist Important

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My firm (shared with my co-founder) H2 Healthcare, LLC does a lot of legal work, primarily forensic and litigation support. My wife (and partner), Diane Hislop, RN, is likely the foremost (or certainly, top few) clinical compliance experts in the country in terms of senior living and post-acute care. This means, as a group, we … Read more

Friday Feature: Where Inflation Came from and Why

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The Federal Reserve hasn’t always conducted FOMC meetings (Federal Open Market Committee). It started meeting in late 1973 or early 1974. The purpose of the meeting was to address inflation primarily, in the economy; ways to control it, ways to stabilize monetary policy, ways to create price stability. In the mid 1970s, the Fed began … Read more

CMS Releases Rule on SNF Staffing Mandate

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Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! This morning, CMS dropped a proposed rule for a staffing mandate for SNFs. On Wednesday, I wrote about the delays (staffing mandate) and the information from a CMS contracted study completed by Abt and Associates. That post is here: https://wp.me/ptUlY-LM The consensus around the staffing mandate issue is that CMS was bogged … Read more