Articles and Blogs

On July 7, 2017, the Survey and Certification Group at Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a memorandum, “Revision of Civil Money Penalty (“CMP”) Policies and CMP Analytic Tool” (“S&C Memo”) detailing revisions to policies and the analytic tool used to assess and determine CMPs for skilled nursing facilities. The stated goal is... READ MORE

This is another article in a series discussing the complete overhaul of Part 483 to Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the Requirements for States and Long-Term Care Facilities (“Final Regulations”) by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”). Hall Render published an overview of Final Regulations components as well as Parts 1,... READ MORE

On June 2, 2017, the Survey and Certification Group at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a memorandum, “Requirement to Reduce Legionella Risk in Healthcare Facility Water Systems to Prevent Cases and Outbreaks of Legionnaires’ Disease (LD)” (“S&C Memo”), requiring that facilities develop and follow policies and procedures that inhibit microbial growth... READ MORE

This is another article in a series discussing the complete overhaul of Part 483 to Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the Requirements for States and Long-Term Care Facilities (“Final Regulations”) by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”). BACKGROUND On September 28, 2016, CMS released a complete overhaul of Part... READ MORE

President Obama introduced his fiscal year (“FY”) 2015 budget yesterday, and there are many proposed cuts to post-acute care providers.  Some of the highlights include a number of bundled payment initiatives, a $100 co-pay for home health patients not discharged from a hospital and re-admission penalties for skilled nursing facilities (“SNFs”) with high hospital... READ MORE

The Indiana Court of Appeals (“Court”) ruled that a daughter who signed a skilled nursing facility admissions agreement as her mother’s “responsible party” was not liable for her mother’s unpaid skilled nursing facility bill because the daughter did not have authority over her mother’s finances or access to her mother’s finances. READ MORE

Recently, the North Dakota Supreme Court found a son liable for his parents’ $104,276 unpaid nursing home bill under North Dakota’s filial responsibility law. READ MORE

The House of Representatives recently proposed legislation that would bundle payments for post-acute care services and create penalties for readmissions to Medicare-certified nursing homes. The proposed legislation would also reduce the annual market basket index for Skilled Nursing Services. READ MORE

On August 13, 2013, all nursing facilities participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs were required to be in compliance with the automatic sprinkler systems’ regulation that was published in a final rule on August 13, 2008. The regulation provided a five-year phase-in program to allow long-term care facilities (“Facilities”) to achieve compliance by... READ MORE

In Indiana, a spouse can be obligated to pay for medical care received by the other spouse under the doctrine of necessaries. The modern version of the doctrine of necessaries imposes limited secondary liability upon the financially superior spouse when the other spouse is unable to pay for his or her necessary expenses using... READ MORE