With a presidential election less than a week away and a pandemic still raging out of control in many parts of this country, the post-acute and long-term health care landscape finds itself on the brink of what could be both a brutal and potentially transformative winter.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Friday announced a plan to support nursing homes in new “COVID-19 hotspot areas,” with a combined focus on technical support and targeted inspections for facilities with a history of infection control issues.
In three major U.S. metropolitan areas, the intensity of COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes directly mirrored the rate of spread among the general population — to the point where the number of nursing home deaths in the city with the fewest total cases was not significantly higher than the same period in 2019.
The federal government on Thursday addressed anecdotal reports that nursing homes have seized stimulus checks that residents received as part of the CARES Act coronavirus relief package, warning operators that such actions are illegal.
The top medical official in charge of the federal government’s coronavirus task force on Tuesday advocated for stricter COVID-19 controls in the nation’s nursing homes, one day after the president and vice president announced a desire for expanded testing in long-term care.
