News

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
January 14, 2025 (updated) Summary:
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is launching a national Nursing Home Staffing Campaign aimed at increasing the number of nurses working in nursing homes and at the state agencies that inspect nursing homes for compliance with health and ...

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)
January 10, 2025 KEY POINTS
• A CMS rule finalized on November 17, 2023, enhances ownership transparency and policy by requiring detailed disclosures about the ownership and managerial control of nursing homes.
• Publicly available CMS ownership files offer essential information for mapping ...

July 1, 2025: Hearing on the PNA The Joint Legislative Committee on Health Care Financing held a hearing at the State House on legislation to raise the Personal Needs Allowance for nursing home and rest home residents. Watch the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing July 1 Hearing. Read the ...

Nonprofit Quarterly
By James Lomastro, PhD,  January 6, 2025
Editor’s Note:  James Lomastro is a member of the Dignity Alliance Massachusetts Coordinating Committee and is the Chair of several workgroups. Dignity in Action: From Institutional Failure to Decentralized Empowerment Forged amid the suffering, deaths, and neglect that prevailed in nursing homes during ...

Nurse.org, By Angelina Walker
January 2, 2025

The debate over private equity's role in healthcare has intensified in recent years, with critics arguing that the profit-driven model of these investment firms is incompatible with high-quality patient care and safety. Recent developments have added fuel to this ongoing discussion as private equity (PE) ...

The Assisted Living Workgroup, along with other organizations, have proposed Consumer Protection Regulations for Residents of Assisted Living Residences in Massachusetts. The proposal was sent to Mary Freeley, Director of the Elder Justice Unit under Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell in January 2025. The collaborative effort involved representatives from Dignity ...

After Action Review of the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Lessons Learned and a Path Forward Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, U. S. House of Representatives
December 4, 2024 The Select Subcommittee had bipartisan consensus across multiple topics.

1. The possibility that COVID-19 emerged because of a laboratory or research-related accident is ...
   
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CMS Issues Major Updates to Nursing Home Care Guidelines Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
November 18, 2024

What’s Changing?
CMS’s new 900-page revised long-term care surveyor guidance document includes updates to critical care areas such as:

• Medication Use and Chemical Restraints: A key focus is reducing the unnecessary use of ...
  
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office of Inspector General
November 9, 2024

Why OIG Did This Audit

• Nursing homes that participate in Medicare and Medicaid are required by CMS to comply with requirements intended to protect residents, including requirements related to sprinkler systems, smoke detector coverage, and emergency preparedness plans ...
  
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Wednesday, December 11, 2024 A Long-Term Care Ombudsman is certified to investigate any issues that arise in nursing homes, rest homes, or assisted living facilities, so the residents who live there can do so with dignity and respect. As an advocate, a Long-Term Care Ombudsman works to resolve problems between ...

As Americans Gather for Thanksgiving, New Federal Data Show Many Nursing Home Residents Endure Understaffed Facilities Long Term Care Community Coalition
November 25, 2024 Federal law mandates that all nursing homes provide sufficient staff to meet the care and quality of life needs of their residents every day. However, new data ...

Presented by Tri-Valley, Center for Living & Working (CLW), and Elder Services of Worcester (ESWA) on December 6, 2024.

The video explains how their Option's Counselors (OC) help individuals of all ages navigate not only Long-Term Services & Supports (LTSS), but myriad other programs, benefits, and options that are available to ...

The Gazette
By Mary Timp
November 10, 2024 Most people don’t want to be in a nursing home. That’s especially so because some of our homes are scary. Dangerously scary. In fact, nearly every week, we learn of a nursing home somewhere in Iowa being cited for providing poor care. I’m not ...

Hindenburg Research
November 4, 2024 Summary:
Hindenburg Research has released a scathing report alleging that PACS Group, a skilled nursing facility operator, has engaged in fraudulent practices to inflate revenue and profits. Key allegations include:

• Abuse of COVID-era waivers: PACS is accused of inappropriately using COVID-related waivers to increase Medicare reimbursements ...
  
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Senior Care Policy Brief: Overbilling and Killing? Long Term Care Community Coalition
October 31, 2024 Overbilling and Killing? An Examination of the Skilled Nursing Industry is a new study on the extent to which some nursing homes manipulate the reimbursement system to maximize profits and the impact of these practices on ...

Stat News
October 28, 2024
By Tara Bannow and Casey Ross For the nation’s largest health insurer, the evidence of abuse was stunning and unmistakable: UnitedHealth Group reaped billions from the federal Medicare program by diagnosing patients with serious chronic illnesses, and then delivering no follow-up care. The findings in the federal ...

Consumer Voice's Statement Regarding Lawsuit Filed by Twenty States to Block Critical Staffing Protections for Nursing Home Residents National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care On October 9, 2024, twenty state attorneys general filed suit in federal court to block the implementation of the most significant increase in protections for ...

Thursday, October 24, 2024 Presenters:

• George Fleischner, President / CEO, Nonotuck Resource Associates
• Sindelle Robles, Vice President, Nonotuck Resource Associates

Adult family care is a program that provides in-home support for individuals who need assistance with daily living activities. It offers a home-like setting, often within a family's ...

American Eldercide: How It Happened, How to Prevent It by Margaret Gullette: A book reading and discussion Scroll down to watch the video. Wednesday, October 30, 2024 American Eldercide is a bracing spotlight on the avoidable causes of the COVID-19 Eldercide in the United States. Twenty percent of the Americans ...

A Discussion of Morals and Values in Institutional Care for the Elderly:  How we Justify the Unjustifiable: Part I By Dave Kingsley, Center for Health Information and Policy
July 30, 2024 Corporate Neglect and Abuse of Nursing Home Patients: A Low Risk-High Reward Practice Why do nursing home corporations provide suboptimal ...