Terms To Better Understand Your Nursing Home
For families seeking information on a particular nursing home or additional information about a specific event, the need for such information usually comes at a time when external pressures abound. In order to fully appreciate such information, it is important to have a complete grasp of the terms involved. I was happy to find concise definitions of many nursing home terms that pop up both in the nursing home selection process and beyond recently published by the Detriot Free Press. I frequently receive inquiries from blog readers about such terms, so I decided it would be worthwhile to include them...
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Ohio Nursing Homes To Improve Patient Care Or Risk Receiving Lower Pay From State
Perhaps the biggest stigma associated with nursing homes is that they are large institutions that have little regard for personal preferences. Unfortunately, at many facilities this stigma is indeed accurate and reinforced on a daily basis as patients are essentially molded into complying with a program that is geared towards efficiency and cost-reduction. Could the institutional approach to nursing home care be on the way out? A new program proposed by an advisory counsel aims to improve the quality of life for many patients living in Ohio Nursing Homes by encouraging nursing homes to incorporate quantifiable quality measures or risk...
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Study Demonstrates Nursing Home Workers Earn Less Than Minimum Wage
A study evaluating pay-rates of nursing home workers has determined that Medicaid reimburses facilities an average of just $7.17 per hour for their workers-- when the national minimum wage is now $7.25 per hour. The study was funded by the research group Eljay which further discovered that nursing homes across the country are severely under-funded-- to the tune of $6.5 billion in 2010. Approximately 64% of skilled nursing facilities rely on Medicaid funding as their primary source of reimbursement. My take: While the above numbers may be somewhat skewed, the fact remains that nursing homes continue to pay their employees...
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Nursing Home Patient Dumping. Is This A New Trend?
I was disgusted when I recently saw this news clip regarding a nursing home patient that was literally dumped at an emergency room. Patient dumping is an illegal practice, yet seems to be occurring more frequently lately. No doubt, patient dumping is about nursing homes desire to increase their profits as opposed to providing quality patient care. My hunch is that if we were to look at all of the patients who were dumped by nursing homes, we would see that most (if not all) are Medicaid recipients as opposed to Medicare or private pay patients. Related: Get Out Of...
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Should Medicaid Dictate Who Receives Medical Treatment?
An anticipated decision by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals may alter the way medical treatment is dispensed for Medicaid recipients. Under the current system, Medicaid recipients are entitled to receive 'medically necessary' treatment as prescribed by their physician. In cases of disabled or handicapped people this frequently means home nursing care by a CNA or therapist. The case pending before the 11th Circuit involves Anna Moore, a 14-year-old Georgia girl, who suffers from a seizure disorder since birth. Because of her ongoing risk of stroke and breathing problems, Anna's physician prescribed round-the-clock nursing care. Despite the medical order from...
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Medicare & Medicaid Funding Pulled From Nursing Home With Violations
Residents at Michigan's Metron Nursing Home in Allegan will soon be looking for new places to live following the facilities violations of federal nursing home regulations. Metron has received 11 federal violations, including a violation concerning immediate jeopardy to a patients health. It is unfortunate that resident's must be displaced and care routines will be interrupted, but there is a reason that federal nursing home regulations are in place--to provide quality care for nursing home residents. What residents and visitors may not see, may lead to serious lapses in the quality of patient care in the future. Metron operates seven nurisng...
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Even The Worst Nursing Homes Can Turn It Around
I came across this news video about a New Mexico nursing home that took it upon itself to improve patient care. After losing Medicare and Medicaid funding, this facility has received a clean bill of health and is now providing quality care to New Mexico's elderly. Nursing Home Injury Laws: New Mexico...
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The List Of 'Never Events' Grows
Effective 10/1/2008, hospitals and nursing homes will no longer be able to seek reimbursement from Medicare for medical conditions deemed preventable. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is asking states to coordinate Medicare and Medicaid policies to prevent facilities from billing Medicaid for preventable medical errors for individuals who may be eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Most nursing home residents are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. The 'never events' is a listing of 28 categorized errors that CMS has determined to be clearly preventable. CMS estimates that errors on the 'never list' account for $4.5 billion in...
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Nursing Home Residents Expected To Shoulder More Financial Burden
Many disabled and elderly residents of New York will soon be expected to pay more personal funds toward their nursing home expenses. The changes are being implemented to minimize government spending by reducing the number of people eligible for Medicaid. Medicaid was originally conceptualized as a program to protect the poor and disabled. As the population ages, many people are seeking benefits under Medicare that the system never considered-- middle class people living in nursing homes. Qualifying for Medicaid is not easy. A thorough background check is conducted for each recipient. All assets must be disclosed- including, bank accounts, homes...
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Do I Qualify For Medicaid?
'Poor-people' is what most think of when Medicaid is mentioned. A closer look at Medicaid reveals that the program does far more than assist the poor. Medicaid is a State and Federal program that will pay most nursing home costs for two-thirds of all nursing home residents. As I discussed in another post, the cost of nursing home care is daunting to say the least. Medicaid was established to help a broad range of people deal with the financial pressures of long-term care. Generally, in order to become eligible for Medicaid, personal assets be used first. People who may...
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