McKnight's Long-Term Care News
Monday, October 24, 2011
NATURAL DISASTERS MAKE ILLNESS MORE LIKELY FOR LTC RESIDENTS, STUDY FINDS
long-term care residents that are displaced from their facility following a natural disaster are more susceptible to illness, injury and death, a new study finds. The study was published in the September issue of the Journal of Gerontological Nursing. Click here to read more.
American Health Care Association - National Center for Assisted Living
AHCA / NCAL Gazette | Friday, July 22, 2011
Alabama tornadoes: Nursing home disaster plans under review
By Robin DeMonia, The Birmingham News. July 22, 2011
On that horrible night, with part of the roof gone, the water shut off, and the smell of leaking gas in the area, Lyman Hardy wanted to evacuate the 52 residents of his La Rocca Nursing Home. However, streets were blocked, trees down, utilities damaged, hospitals overcrowded and emergency responders told Hardy he shouldn't attempt an immediate evacuation.Now the state and the nursing home industry are pouring over emergency plans and procedures, asking questions about emergency preparation and response. " This has raised our awareness," said Dr. Tom Geary, the director of health provider standards at the Alabama Department of Public Health. "The question is what we could do better."
FL: Budget hawks eye nursing home tax
By Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida, WCTV,tv. July 20, 2011
Florida nursing homes are facing $187.5 million in state budget cuts this year. Now the system for drawing down additional federal Medicaid money for the facilities is under fire, as Congress and the Obama administration are considering reducing the system’s maximum tax assessment rate. Tony Marshall, senior director of reimbursement at the Florida Health Care Association, traveled to Washington last week, where he heard objections from both Republicans and Democrats, who say the industry assessments are just a way for states to get around paying for health care.
IN: Flushing drugs down drain seems insane, but it’s legal
Rules are different for health care providers
By Kevin Leininger, The News-Sentinel. July 21, 2011, 10:24 AM
A study by the Associated Press last year found drugs in the water systems of major U.S. cities, but sewage treatment and water purification plants can’t remove them. While residents of the Triad area of Indiana are asked to drop off unused medications for proper disposal through incineration or other methods, guidelines for the state’s health care facilities suggest flushing unused drugs down the toilet as one safe way to dispose of them. For health care facilities, state and federal bureaucrats have issued disposal guidelines that list toilet-flushing as an acceptable option for nonhazardous substances, according to City Utilities spokeswoman Mary Jane Slaton.
HMOs, providers slam funding cuts to Minnesota health, human services
By Christopher Snowbeck, Pioneer Press. July 22, 2011
Minnesota nursing homes said the financial viability of some long-term care facilities are threatened by the state's new $11.3 billion budget for health and human service programs. Of particular concern was a decision to repeal a “rebasing” measure that would have provided $133 million to nursing homes. "This budget does nothing to address long-needed reforms for older-adult services," Patti Cullen, the president of Care Providers of Minnesota, said in a statement issued by Aging Services of Minnesota.
NJ: Democrats, Christie duel over seniors
The governor cited tax relief at a retiree’s house. A panel in the Assembly heard from a nursing home about cuts
By Angela Delli Santi and Josh Lederman, Associated Press. Philadelphia Inquirer. July 22, 2011
Residents of Cheshire Home came in wheelchairs to a packed hearing of the Assembly Budget Committee Thursday to appeal the $30 million in Medicaid cuts that will hit nursing homes twice, as federal funds will also be cut by a matching $30 million. "Safe staffing is the backbone of quality care," said Milly Silva of SEIU Local 1199, which represents nursing-home caregivers. "With fewer staff, nursing-home residents will be forced to wait longer to receive their food, meds, and daily care."
NJ: Riley wants GOP to join in calling for restoration funding for nursing homes and specialty care units
By Today’s Sunbeam, NJ.com. July 21, 2011, 1:53 PM
Assemblywoman Celeste Riley on Thursday on Republican legislators to join Democrats in appealing to Gov. Christie to restore vital cuts to nursing homes and specialty care facilities.
“This is an issue that touches all of our lives,” said Riley. I am moved by the testimony I heard today and trust that all of my colleagues are equally sensitive to the pleas of our elderly and those with special needs. Their safety and well-being is not something that should be sacrificed in order to balance the budget.”
Hospice companies zero in on nursing home patients
By Jordan Rau, NPR. July 21, 2011
A newly released federal audit (http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-02-10-00070.pdf) finds that hospice care for patients in nursing facilities increased by 69 percent between 2005 and 2009. The OIG found that patients in nursing homes receive three weeks more care than patients not in nursing homes, and because nursing home patients need less medical care, less of hospice’s Medicare payments are spent on care.
Negotiating end-of-life care – the skilled nursing facility
By Victoria Pynchon, Forbes Blog. July 21, 2011, 2:54 PM
If you are a woman nearing retirement, the possibility that you will age in comfort is far less likely than the chance you will live out your final years in poverty. Presently, the U.S. poverty rate for people 65 and over is 9.7 percent — that’s 3.5 million people who, if they are single, are living on less than $10,289 a year. Two-thirds of women over age 65 rely on Social Security as their primary source of income. Consequently, women are twice as likely as men to live out their golden years at or below poverty levels. So, yes, this story is about negotiating with health care bureaucracies, but it is also about the way in which the richest country in the world treats the weakest members of the human family, family members who could well be us.
AARP: Generics keep getting cheaper
By Sam Baker, The Hill Healthwatch Blog. July 21, 2011, 1:39 PM
Prices for generic drugs fell by 7.8 percent in 2009, according to a study released by AARP on Thursday.
Judge OKs $25 million Katrina hospital settlement
By Julian Pecquet, The Hill Healthwatch Blog. July 21, 2011, 11:28 AM
A New Orleans judge approved a $25 million settlement for patients and visitors trapped in Memorial Medical Center following Hurricane Katrina.