Author: Kathleen Steele Gaivin

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is tightening its grip on nursing homes’ use of third-party financial guarantees, aiming to curb practices that shift the financial burden of resident care onto others. According to updated guidance set to take effect in March, any language in admission agreements that seeks to hold someone other than the resident personally responsible for payment could be deemed non-compliant, even if the word “guarantee” isn’t explicitly used. This move has sparked concerns that nursing homes may resort to more aggressive tactics, such as lawsuits, to recover unpaid resident debt. “It is becoming harder…