Where you live might matter when it comes to COVID-19 infection rates: study
By
Kimberly Bonvissuto
Dec 14, 2020
Positive COVID-19 cases and deaths were “substantially higher” in assisted living communities and nursing homes compared with home- and community-based settings, according to a recent study in JAMDA,...
EEOC: Employers must accommodate religious objections to COVID vaccine mandates
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Oct 27, 2021
Employers with COVID-19 vaccine mandates must accommodate workers’ “sincerely held religious beliefs, practices and observances” against such requirements unless doing so would create an “undue...
3 more states join lawsuit challenging CMS COVID-19 vaccine mandate
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Nov 29, 2021
Attorneys general in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio joined more than a dozen states last week in challenging the legality of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ mandate of COVID-19 vaccines for...
COVID-19’s lesson about the importance of self-directed care
By
Greg Strobel
Aug 12, 2021
While it’s hard to find a silver lining in the COVID-19 pandemic, one can be found in the home healthcare industry, where the COVID-19 crisis reinforced the critical need for flexible and affordable...
Biden administration asks Supreme Court for stay from injunctions against CMS vaccine mandate
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Dec 20, 2021
As lawsuits mount from multiple states, the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court Thursday to reinstate nationwide the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ emergency regulation mandating...
COVID-19 public health emergency renewed by HHS
By
Lois A. Bowers
Jan 14, 2022
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced Friday that he is renewing the federal public health emergency related to COVID-19.
Continue audio-only telehealth, American Medical Association urges CMS
By
Diane Eastabrook
Apr 06, 2021
On Monday, the American Medical Association (AMA) asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to continue paying for audio-only telehealth visits beyond the COVID-19 public health emergency...
More than 201,000 in long-term care have died from COVID, but just how many more?
By
Lois A. Bowers
Feb 07, 2022
A full accounting of COVID deaths among long-term care residents and staff members is not available because the federal government only collects data from Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing facilities.
Kentucky SNFs expect to lose at least 11% of workforce due to vaccine mandate
By
Amy Novotney
Sep 07, 2021
Leaders from Kentucky’s long-term care industry implored state lawmakers Thursday to provide more support for its bruised and battered workforce.
CMS to provide additional payments for at-home COVID-19 vaccinations
By
Liza Berger
Aug 24, 2021
In an effort to sweeten the pot on COVID-19 vaccinations, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Tuesday it is providing additional payments to healthcare providers who administer doses to multiple...