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Aging Covid-19 Housing Long Term Services and Support News Spotlight

2025-04-22 What DignityMA Means to Me

Five years ago, in the earliest days of the Covid pandemic, Dignity Alliance Massachusetts was established as a volunteer-driven to transform the provision of long-term services and care in the Commonwealth. Since that time, hundreds of individuals and organizations have used their collective voices and efforts to make a real difference through legislation, regulatory reform, […]

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News Spotlight

2025-04-15 Spotlight: Sara Kallock

Sara Kallock (1987-2024)Sara’s 38th birthday is April 15. Sara Kallock was an active DignityMA participant for the last months of her life. Sara was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic cancer of the pancreas in mid-September 2023. She became involved with DignityMA after months of advocating on behalf of her father who was a veteran receiving […]

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Facilities News Spotlight

2025-04-08 Spotlight: 2024 Double G Citations: Significant Increase in Nursing Home Noncompliance and Penalties

2024 Double G Citations: Significant Increase in Nursing Home Noncompliance and Penalties Long Term Care Community Coalition Substandard care, abuse, and neglect are persistent and widespread problems in nursing homes, primarily due to inadequate enforcement of minimum safety standards. To help combat this, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) imposes automatic penalties […]

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Aging Behavioral Health Facilities Home and Community Based Long Term Services and Support News Spotlight

2025-04-01 Spotlight: HHS’s Transformation to Make America Healthy Again

HHS’s Transformation to Make America Healthy Again U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, March 27, 2025 The restructuring of HHS is proceeding in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order, “Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative.” Over the past four years, during the Biden administration, HHS’s budget increased by 38% […]

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Facilities Long Term Services and Support News Spotlight

2025-03-25 Spotlight: Private Equity in Intellectual and Developmental Disability Services

Private equity firms consolidating homes for disabled *Washington Post, March 18, 2025By Peter Whoriskey Summary:Private equity firms are increasingly acquiring companies that care for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, traditionally a nonprofit sector, according to a report by the Private Equity Stakeholders Project. The report warns that this trend may prioritize investor profits over […]

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Facilities News Spotlight

2025-03-18 Spotlight: Nursing home funds used on designer suits, lingerie, spa service, complaint alleges

Nursing home funds used on designer suits, lingerie, spa service, complaint alleges Boston 25 News, March 6, 2025By Ted Daniel A former Boston nursing home boss and two of his employees have been accused of embezzling $3 million dollars, according to a newly filed lawsuit in Suffolk County Superior Court. The allegations center around Tony […]

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Facilities Federal Legislation Home and Community Based Long Term Services and Support News Spotlight Worker Support

2024-02-28 Spotlight: What Lies Ahead For Medicaid In Budget Reconciliation?

What Lies Ahead For Medicaid In Budget Reconciliation?Health AffairsBy Sara Rosenbaum and Alison BarkoffFebruary 11, 2025 President Trump recently stated, “We will love and cherish” Medicaid, promising that budget cutting would be limited to finding waste and abuse. But that sentiment is not likely to prevail as Congress moves forward with massive budget cutting efforts, […]

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Facilities News Spotlight Worker Support

2024-02-11 Spotlight: Your Parents Deserve More From Their Nursing Home

Your Parents Deserve More From Their Nursing HomeNew York TimesBy Norma B. Coe and Rachel M. WernerFebruary 7, 2025 Dr. Coe is the director of research and Dr. Werner is the executive director at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. For anyone who lives in a nursing home, the […]

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Advocacy News Spotlight

2025-02-04 Spotlight: Redefining Neutrality: Dignity Alliance: The Evolution of Honest Brokers in Healthcare Advocacy

By James A. Lomastro, PhDJanuary 2025 The emergence of Dignity Alliance Massachusetts (DignityMA) represents a significant evolution in the concept of honest brokers within healthcare systems.  While traditional honest brokers typically strive for complete neutrality in mediating conflicts, DignityMA has pioneered a new approach that combines advocacy with intermediary functions, challenging conventional assumptions about the […]

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Facilities News Spotlight

2025-01-28 Spotlight: Massachusetts Nursing Facilities

Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA)Nursing facilities serve an important role in the continuum of health care services in Massachusetts, providing nearly 12 million patient days of service in 2023. To better understand this component of the Massachusetts health care system, CHIA’s new dashboard, released in January 2025, examines the Commonwealth’s nursing facilities […]

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