KHN senior correspondent Jordan Rau spins through this week’s essential health care news.
Federal Help Falters As Nursing Homes Run Short Of Protective Equipment
More than 3,000 nursing homes reported less than a week’s worth of supplies, and 653 said they had run out entirely at some point. Stopgap FEMA equipment has not reached many facilities, and packages that have arrived have fallen short of promises.
KHN senior correspondent Jordan Rau takes a spin through this week’s essential health care news.
COVID-Plagued California Nursing Homes Often Had Problems In Past
Nursing homes with COVID-19 infections tend to violate health rules more often and have more complaints and fines, records show. But infections also plague highly rated facilities — while sparing some low-ranked ones.
Amid Coronavirus Distress, Wealthy Hospitals Hoard Millions
As the coronavirus threatens the finances of thousands of hospitals, wealthy ones that can draw on millions — and even billions — of dollars in savings are in competition with near-insolvent hospitals for limited pots of financial relief.
Millions Of Older Americans Live In Counties With No ICU Beds As Pandemic Intensifies
A Kaiser Health News analysis shows that counties with ICUs average one ICU bed for every 1,300 older residents, those most at risk for needing hospitalization.
How Well Does Your Nursing Home Fight Infections? Look It Up Here
More nursing homes have been faulted for failing to follow practices designed to prevent and control infections than for any other type of error. Such lapses have become matters of heightened concern with the spread of the coronavirus this spring, especially as the virus is a bigger threat to the elderly.
As Coronavirus Cases Grow, So Does Scrutiny Of Nursing Home Infection Plans
Seema Verma, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, calls on state and federal health inspectors to focus on how facilities keep infections from spreading, especially in areas that have reported coronavirus cases.
Más inspecciones en hogares de adultos mayores a medida que crece el coronavirus
En los últimos tres años, 9.372 hogares, es decir el 61%, han sido citados por problemas con la higiene u otras normas de prevención y control de infecciones.
Coronavirus Stress Test: Many 5-Star Nursing Homes Have Infection-Control Lapses
Since the beginning of 2017, inspectors have cited more nursing homes for failing to ensure that all workers follow federal prevention and control protocols than for any other type of violation, according to federal records.
Preeminent Hospitals Penalized Over Rates Of Patients’ Injuries
Medicare cut payments for 786 hospitals because of high infection and complication rates. They included a third of the hospitals proclaimed as the nation’s best in one prominent ranking.
Patients Eligible For Charity Care Instead Get Big Bills
Nonprofit hospitals admit they sent $2.7 billion in bills over the course of a year to patients who probably qualified for free or discounted care.
New Round of Medicare Readmission Penalties Hits 2,583 Hospitals
Starting today, Medicare is keeping half a billion dollars in payments from 83% of general hospitals for having too many patients come back.
Hospitals Accused Of Paying Doctors Large Kickbacks In Quest For Patients
Hospitals are eager to get particular specialists on staff because they bring in business that can be highly profitable. But those efforts, if they involve unusually high salaries or other enticements, can violate federal anti-kickback laws.
Short-Staffed Nursing Homes See Drop In Medicare Ratings
In its latest update to the Nursing Home Compare website, the government gave 1,638 homes its lowest star rating for staffing — one star on its five-star scale. Most were downgraded because payroll records reported no registered-nurse hours at all for at least four days.
Americans Overwhelmingly Want Federal Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills
Three-quarters of people urge action to keep patients from facing high medical costs when their insurance doesn’t cover the care, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll.
Trump escucha quejas de la industria y bajan las multas en hogares de adultos mayores
Bajo la administración actual, la multa promedio se redujo a $28,405, muy por debajo de los $41,260 en 2016, el último año en el cargo del presidente Barack Obama.
Nursing Home Fines Drop As Trump Administration Heeds Industry Complaints
Inspectors are citing nursing facilities for violating health and safety more often than during the Obama administration. But the average fine is nearly a third lower than it was before President Donald Trump took office.
Military Doctors In Crosshairs Of A Budget Battle
Details of the reductions have not yet been announced, but in 2017 Congress ordered mandated changes to make the military health system more efficient.
Medicare Trims Payments To 800 Hospitals, Citing Patient Safety Incidents
The penalties are part of a program set up by the Affordable Care Act to prompt hospitals to pay more attention to safety issues that can lead to injuries, such as falls or hospital-acquired infections.
