Payment Models

How the New Independent Contractor Rule Could Impact the Senior Care Gig Economy

In January 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) announced a final rule on classifying workers as employees or independent contracto... Read More »

Senior Care Coronavirus News Roundup for Friday, 4/10: Puppies and More

IASC's periodic roundup of coronavirus-related news of interest to senior care leaders. Read More »

Fundraising: Putting mission over money

Inspiring charitable giving is crucial for not-for-profit organizations. Harvard professor Jennifer McCrea explains how to engage potential contributors in a conversation about mission instead of money. Read More »

CMS raises reimbursement by 1%, pushes VBP

With the Value-Based Purchasing program due to begin in 2019, CMS is pushing SNFs to get on board with performance baselines now. Read More »

Senate GOP bill calls for deep Medicaid cuts

Senate Republicans have finally revealed their bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. It is similar to the House version but key differences could make it a tough sell among Republicans with a razor-thin margin for passage. Read More »

Breaking down the CBO report: How AHCA could affect seniors

How could the proposed AHCA legislation affect older adults? What could happen to Medicaid and the ability to find insurance coverage? We explain the actual CBO report section by section. Read More »

House passes AHCA bill by 4 votes

The promise of $8 billion for high-risk and pre-existing conditions pushed the bill in the GOP's favor. The bill now moves on to the Senate, where the margins for passage are predicted to be tougher. Read More »

Leading the charge to Argentum 2018

Senior care leaders convened at the annual Argentum Senior Living Executive Conference in Nashville to reflect on the past year and look forward to the year ahead. Read More »

The changing season of CMS

As the season shifts into fall, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is launching a new season of regulations for long-term and post-acute care. Read More »

How the RAI Manual changes encourage collaboration

AANAC's Judi Kulus, RN breaks down the impacts of the new RAI Manual changes and why SNF needs to collaborate better among their care teams and with their outside partners—including therapy providers and home health. Read More »

BPCI Model 3: Bonanza or boondoggle?

There’s an argument to be made for being an early adopter with Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) Model 3, but there are also questions about how much participants will ultimately save. Read More »

Medicare proposes changes to primary care payment

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has proposed changes to the Physician Fee Schedule to change how Medicare pays for primary care with an emphasis on care management and behavioral health. Read More »

MedPAC launches plan for new payment system

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) submits it recommendations to Congress for how to establish a unified, cross-setting post-acute care payment system. The plan would redistribute payments among types of stays, making profits more uniform and hopefully reducing unnecessary services and admission preferences.  Read More »

Unified PAC payment feasible, MedPAC says

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has issued its annual report on refinements to Medicare payment systems and on issues affecting the medicare program Read More »

“We are the solution,” industry execs tell Congress

A two-day AHCA/NCAL congressional briefing brings 450 long-term interests to Capitol Hill. Read More »

Crusading to protect the elderly

Are the new Justice Department Elder Justice Task Forces a smokescreen to cut costs? Long-Term Living's politics and policy reporter, Robert Gatty, examines the forces at play in the new initiatives. Read More »

Innovation program to reduce nursing home hospitalizations

The Center for Innovation has invested more than $30 million for Indiana University’s project to reduce avoidable hospitalizations for nursing home residents by providing higher levels of care on site. Read More »

Proposed legislation aimed at comorbidity among Medicare beneficiaries

A U.S. Senate Working Group has outlined priorities for improving Medicare delivery to beneficiaries with multiple, complex chronic illnesses while reducing healthcare expenditures.  Read More »

New CMS initiative to improve care for nursing home residents

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will test a new payment model for nursing facilities and practitioners to further reduce avoidable hospitalizations and lower Medicare and Medicaid spending while improving patient care. Read More »

CMS releases v1.13 of the RAI User’s Manual

The newly released RAI includes ICD-10 coding information and other clarifications. Read More »

CMS announces initiative to improve care in nursing homes

The new initiative provides funding to would allow nursing homes to test a new payment model. Read More »

CMS proposes physician reimbursement for end-of-life discussions

In a milestone addition to its physician payment schedule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposes to add a new billing code to allow for the reimbursement of advanced care planning services. Read More »

CMS proposes SNF changes

Payments to skilled nursing facilities, quality reporting, value-based purchasing and staffing data collection are addressed in a proposed rule published April 20 in the Federal Register. Read More »

SNFs, hospice and home health programs prominent in OIG work plan for 2015

The billing, hiring, care-provision and deficiency-correction practices of nursing homes, hospices and home health programs are among the areas to be targeted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General in 2015. Read More »

CMS updates Medicare COT assessment requirements

CMS recently updated the change of therapy requirements found in the RAI User’s Manual. Understanding the changes can ensure correct reimbursement and avoid miscalculations. Read More »

CMS issues final rule with home health payment changes for 2015

Changes effective Jan. 1 will apply to face-to-face encounters, therapy reassessments, rate setting, home health quality reporting and speech-language pathologists' conditions of participation. Read More »