Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
All Nursing Homes Must Now Test Workers For COVID, CMS Mandates
The Washington Post: CMS Requires Covid-19 Testing Of All Nursing Home Staff
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will for the first time require the regular testing of nursing home staff for the novel coronavirus, the agency’s administrator said Tuesday. Until now, such testing has only been recommended by federal authorities, in part because the slow turnaround time in getting results has seriously hampered its usefulness. But employees are thought to have played a major role in inadvertently introducing the virus to nursing homes and spreading it among residents, more than 40,000 of whom have died of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, since March. (Englund, 8/25)
The Hill: Trump Administration To Require Nursing Homes Test Staff For COVID-19
The new requirement, issued Tuesday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and effective immediately, comes about six months after the virus began circulating in American nursing homes, killing tens of thousands of mostly elderly residents and sickening hundreds of thousands more. (Hellmann, 8/25)
Modern Healthcare: CMS Threatens Fines On Providers Skirting COVID-19 Requirements
"These new rules represent a dramatic ramp up in our effort to track and control COVID-19 in nursing homes,"Verma said. "While we've had good compliance across the country, we want to make sure every single nursing home is doing this. If not, they're going to face sanctions." Nursing homes will be aided in compliance by the 15,000 rapid point-of-care testing devices CMS previously announced it would send to nursing homes over the next few months and $5 billion in funding from the Provider Relief Fund, which was announced in July. CMS also earlier Tuesday launched a staff training program on infection control and prevention for CMS-certified nursing homes. (Christ, 8/25)
ABC News: In Coronavirus Fight, New Mandate For Nursing Homes: Test Or Face Fines
On a press call today, Assistant Secretary of Health Adm. Brett Giroir said that over 2 million tests have been delivered to over 5,500 nursing homes. Giroir added that the rest of the testing kits will be delivered to over 14,000 nursing homes by the end of September. The government is calling on nursing homes to conduct widespread testing of residents and staff if any resident has shown symptoms or tested positive for the virus. In regions where cases are rising, nursing homes will be expected to test staff more frequently. (Mosk, Freger and Romero, 8/25)
In other nursing home news —
AP: Ventilation Study Finds No Pattern In Nursing Home Outbreaks
A review of nursing homes that experienced coronavirus outbreaks found no correlation between their ventilation systems and how the virus spread through the facilities, the state health commissioner said Tuesday. The state hired outside investigators to review ventilation at 28 long-term care facilities, including the hourly air exchange rate and how often filters were replaced. The systems varied widely in age and design, but the results showed no patterns in terms of the virus, said Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette. (Ramer, 8/25)
