Category archives: Nursing Home Care
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1 week ago
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Long-term care costs climbed again in 2021, with rates for home health aides and homemakers seeing the sharpest rises, according to Genworth’s annual Cost of Care Survey. The coronavirus pandemic continues to contribute to cost increases.
In the past year, Genworth reports that the national m... [read more]
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3 weeks ago
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The Biden administration has announced far-reaching nursing home reforms, targeting staffing and accountability at facilities with deficient care. Advocates are calling the proposals, which include the first-ever federal minimum staffing levels, the most significant reforms in decades.
Nursin... [read more]
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1 month ago
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A federal court has ruled that hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries who were switched from inpatient to observation status can appeal the decision, making it easier for them to receive coverage for subsequent nursing home care. The ruling appears to bring to an end more than a decade of litigation on... [read more]
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3 months ago
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it will add data on staff turnover rates and weekend staffing levels to its Care Compare website, giving consumers another tool when choosing a nursing home.
The official Medicare website includes a nursing home rating system. Ca... [read more]
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10 months ago
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To qualify for Medicaid coverage of long-term care, you must satisfy very complicated financial eligibility rules—rules that often can be traps for the unwary. One of the most significant traps is Medicaid's right to recover its expenses from your estate after you die – a practice known as “estate r... [read more]
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11 months ago
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Some conversations are more awkward than others, and while discussing illness and death with our loved ones can feel uncomfortable, it is also important and helpful to do so.
A difficult part of life is that accidents, illnesses, and death are inevitable, and unfortunately often unexpected too. N... [read more]
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1 year ago
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued new guidance on whether families can visit loved ones in nursing homes. The guidance allows indoor visitation even when the resident has not been vaccinated.
The coronavirus pandemic has hit long-term care facilities particularly... [read more]
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1 year ago
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Medicaid planning can be a difficult and confusing process. The following are some common mistakes people make when planning to apply for Medicaid.
Thinking it's too late to plan. It's almost never too late to take planning steps, even after a senior has moved to a nursing home.
Giving... [read more]
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1 year ago
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COVID vaccines are starting to roll out to nursing homes across the country, signaling the beginning of the end of the pandemic. Once your loved one has had both doses of the vaccine, you may be able to visit, but precautions are still necessary.
The federal government entered into a partners... [read more]
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2 years ago
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The coronavirus pandemic has forced nursing homes to place a number of restrictions on their residents. These constraints are having the unintended consequence of making it more difficult for nursing home residents to vote. Hundreds of thousands of nursing home and assisted living community resident... [read more]
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2 years ago
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Raising the minimum wage by as little as 10 percent would significantly improve the safety and health of nursing home residents, according to new research.
Most direct care in nursing homes is provided by nursing assistants, who make up about 40 percent of the nursing home workforce and are a... [read more]
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2 years ago
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In mid-February, a cluster of residents at the Seattle-area nursing home, Life Care Center of Kirkland, came down with a respiratory illness and fever. On February 28, a 73-year-old female resident tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Over the next month, the coronavirus swept throu... [read more]
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