Latest News On Nursing Homes

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Exclusive: CMS Study Sabotages Efforts to Bolster Nursing Home Staffing, Advocates Say

KFF Health News Original

Research commissioned by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services analyzed only staffing levels below what experts have previously called ideal. Patient advocates have been pushing for more staff to improve care.

California Dangles Bonuses for Nursing Homes That Add Staff

KFF Health News Original

Rather than simply reward top-performing facilities, the state’s Medicaid program will hand bonuses to nursing homes — even low-rated ones — for hiring more workers and reducing staff turnover.

Montana Seeks to Insulate Nursing Homes From Future Financial Crises

KFF Health News Original

Lawmakers are considering creating standards to set Medicaid reimbursement rates. But industry observers wonder whether the move would be too little, too late to bolster a beleaguered industry.

Inmigrantes pueden cubrir la brecha de escasez de personal para cuidados de largo plazo

KFF Health News Original

Estados Unidos se enfrenta a una crisis, cada vez mayor, de falta de personal que pone en peligro la seguridad de los mayores más frágiles en las residencias. En un mercado laboral en el que abundan las opciones de trabajo, los cuidados de larga duración, mal pagados y físicamente exigentes, son difíciles de vender.

As Long-Term Care Staffing Crisis Worsens, Immigrants Can Bridge the Gaps

KFF Health News Original

The industry has long relied on immigrants to bolster its ranks, and they’ll be critical to meeting future staffing needs, experts say. But as the baby boom generation fills beds, policymakers are slow to open new pathways for foreign workers.

Nursing Home Owners Drained Cash During Pandemic While Residents Deteriorated

KFF Health News Original

As the federal government debates whether to require higher staffing levels at nursing homes, financial records show owners routinely push profits to sister companies while residents are neglected. “A dog would get better care than he did,” one resident’s wife said.

Wave of Rural Nursing Home Closures Grows Amid Staffing Crunch

KFF Health News Original

Many small-town care facilities that remain open are limiting admissions, citing a lack of staff, while a wave of others shutter. That means more patients are marooned in hospitals or placed far away from their families.

Assisted Living Facilities Pressed to Address Growing Needs of Older, Sicker Residents

KFF Health News Original

Assisted living was meant to be a home-like setting where older adults could interact with other residents while receiving help with daily tasks such as bathing and dressing. But as the concept has become more popular, residents are now older and sicker than in the past, and a panel of experts is calling for more focus on their medical and mental health needs.

Nursing Home Surprise: Advantage Plans May Shorten Stays to Less Time Than Medicare Covers

KFF Health News Original

Private Medicare Advantage health plans are increasingly ending coverage for skilled nursing or rehab services before medical providers think patients are healthy enough to go home, doctors and patient advocates say.

Britain’s Hard Lessons From Handing Elder Care Over to Private Equity

KFF Health News Original

Four Seasons Health Care collapsed after years of private equity investors rolling in one after another to buy its business, sell its real estate, and at times wrest multimillion-dollar profits from it through complex debt schemes. The deal-making failed to account for the true cost of senior care.

Her Brother Landed in a Nursing Home. She Was Sued Over His Bill.

KFF Health News Original

Lucille Brooks, 74, Pittsford, New York Approximate Medical Debt: $8,000 Medical Issue: None. She was billed for her brother’s care. What Happened: Lucille Brooks was stunned to discover a nursing home in Monroe County, New York, was suing her. She had never been a patient there. Nor had her husband. “I thought this was crazy,” […]

Watch: How Nursing Homes Put Friends and Families on the Hook for Residents’ Debts

KFF Health News Original

In pursuit of unpaid bills, nursing homes across Rochester, New York, have been suing relatives and friends of their residents. This CBS News report, done in partnership with a KHN-NPR investigation, takes a look at the practice and tells the stories of some of the people affected.

Nursing Homes Are Suing the Friends and Family of Residents to Collect Debts

KFF Health News Original

Debt lawsuits — long a byproduct of America’s medical debt crisis — can ensnare not only patients but also those who help sick and older people be admitted to nursing homes, a KHN-NPR investigation finds.

Medicaid Weighs Attaching Strings to Nursing Home Payments to Improve Patient Care

KFF Health News Original

The Biden administration is considering whether Medicaid, which pays the bills for 62% of nursing home residents, should require that most of that funding be used to provide care, rather than for maintenance, capital improvements, or profits.