Dec 9 2010
Nursing homes: Media outlets report on challenges faced both by nursing facilities and home health agencies.
NPR: A New Nursing Home Population - The Young
An analysis of federal data from the Department of Health and Human Services by NPR's Investigative Unit found that there's one age group that's going into nursing homes at a higher rate. And it's not the elderly (Shapiro, 12/9).
Connecticut Mirror: Home Health Care Agencies Brace For Rate Cuts
Home health care agencies in Connecticut are bracing for steep Medicare payment cuts that they say could seriously hamper their ability to serve the state's neediest patients. Despite a last-minute plea from Connecticut's congressional delegation, Medicare officials are preparing to impose a nearly 6 percent cut on state providers who deliver a gamut of in-home health services to elderly, poor and privately-insured patients. ... At issue is a pending federal rule, set to go into effect on Jan. 1st, that will reduce Medicare payments to home health care agencies (Shesgreen, 12/9).
 This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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Nursing resources key to improving patient experience ratings