As a coronavirus-caused recession continues to take hold, state and local governments are being forced to cut back support to schools, health programs and other support services, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The implication for senior living and care operators: Medicaid and other funding support might get squeezed.
An Omaha, NE, man was sentenced to 46 months in prison for using the personal information of senior living residents in several states to defraud Medicare and state Medicaid agencies out of thousands of dollars through fraudulent claims, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that it would distribute approximately $15 billion in grants to eligible state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program providers, including assisted living operators. Payments from the distribution will be determined using data that eligible providers enter into an enhanced Provider Relief Fund portal.
During a pandemic that has hampered nursing homes’ most profitable business — post-surgery rehab — some facilities have been admitting COVID-19 patients to ease the burden on overwhelmed hospitals, and, at times, to bolster their bottom lines.
Louisville, KY-based nursing home chain Signature HealthCARE will cut 100 jobs at its headquarters due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to The Courier Journal.
Even before the industry was dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, the average nursing home was operating on a razor-thin profit margin or net loss. That’s because Medicaid reimbursements only cover 70% to 80% of care costs, according to a document released Wednesday by the American Health Care Association / National Center for Assisted Living.
The Department of Health and Human Services will distribute approximately $15 billion in grants to eligible state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program providers, including assisted living operators, the federal agency announced Tuesday.
Regular COVID-19 testing of nursing home staff, who are the most likely to introduce the virus to a facility and spread it to residents, has been sanctioned by experts as one of the most important ways to contain outbreaks. Yet a patchwork of state and federal recommendations have hampered efforts to devise a uniform policy for the testing and led to disputes over whether insurers or employers should cover testing costs, according to a Tuesday New York Times report.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers placed a June 10 deadline on a request for the Department of Health and Human Services to quickly distribute COVID-19 relief funding to Medicaid providers.
Concerns are growing about resident loneliness and other coronavirus challenges, but infection risks still loom large.
