Articles and Blogs

On January 30, 2023, the Biden Administration announced the COVID public health emergency (“PHE”) will expire and end on May 11, 2023. The end of the PHE has a significant impact on skilled nursing facilities (“SNFs”) as it ends the remaining regulatory blanket waivers, revisits resident Medicaid eligibility and changes many COVID regulations that... READ MORE

CMS intends to increase its oversight and scrutiny of changes of ownership (“CHOWs”) and operator disclosures for skilled nursing facilities. On November 2, 2022, CMS announced revisions to the Calendar Year 2023 Payment Policies that impact Physician Fee Schedule and Other Changes to Part B Payment and Coverage Policies; Medicare Shared Savings Program Requirements;... READ MORE

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) intends to increase its oversight and scrutiny of skilled nursing facilities in its Special Focus Facility (“SFF”) program. CMS is revising the SFF program to protect and improve the quality of care that residents living in these skilled nursing facilities receive. This action is being taken... READ MORE

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has retooled guidance it armed surveyors with regarding how to survey skilled nursing facilities for compliance with the CMS staff vaccine requirements. The revisions address condition-level and actual harm determinations to ensure that deficiency citations recognize good faith efforts by providers. On October 26, 2022, CMS... READ MORE

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has given itself an extra year to review and assess skilled nursing facility proposed regulations issued in 2019. The 2019 Proposed Rule aimed to increase the ability of health care professionals to apportion resources to improve resident care by eliminating or reducing requirements that could impede... READ MORE

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has given surveyors new rules and updates to allow surveyors to add extra attention and increase oversight in nursing homes regarding the quality of care and quality of life for residents. On June 29, 2022, the Quality, Safety & Oversight Group at CMS issued a memorandum... READ MORE

On March 1, 2022, President Biden outlined his plan to increase the quality of patient care, resident safety, regulations, fines and ownership transparency in skilled nursing care during his State of the Union address. The day before, on February 28, 2022, President Biden released a fact sheet titled “FACT SHEET: Protecting Seniors and People... READ MORE

As questions, concerns and frustration continue for skilled nursing facilities and families on visitation at facilities, CMS released additional recommendations, clarifications and guidance on a host of issues that skilled nursing providers face as they encounter certain visitation scenarios. On February 2, 2022, CMS updated and added several questions and answers in its December... READ MORE

Amidst a nationwide nursing and skilled nursing facility staffing crisis, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced that additional information regarding nursing home staff numbers will be added to the January 2022 CMS Care Compare website. The staffing data will impact the Five-Star Quality Rating calculations in the middle of 2022. Skilled... READ MORE

Facing further confusion from skilled nursing facilities and families amidst the current spike in COVID cases in the United States, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released additional best practices and addressed more issues that skilled nursing providers should follow as they encounter certain visitation scenarios. On January 6, 2022, CMS updated... READ MORE