Washington, D.C. — For the first time, researchers have developed a reliable, publicly available method to compare how much each state pays nursing homes per Medicaid patient day — and what they found highlights just how wide the gap between states can be. A new study published in Health Services Research introduces a standardized approach to estimating state-level Medicaid nursing home payment rates using data the federal government already makes public. Until now, researchers who wanted to compare Medicaid reimbursement across states had to rely on restricted or proprietary datasets — a significant barrier to understanding how payment differences affect…
Author: Sarah K
Washington, D.C. — A new federal directive is putting nursing homes on a ticking clock. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued guidance that will end federal Medicaid funding for thousands of lawfully present immigrants, effective October 1 — and facilities have until then to figure out how it changes who they can treat and how they get paid. The guidance stems from the Working Families Tax Cut legislation passed in 2025, which restricts when federal dollars can be used to cover noncitizens in Medicaid and CHIP. CMS says the new rules don’t change immigration status definitions —…
Washington, D.C. — The same federal budget that proposes cutting Medicaid and Medicare is now taking aim at something more foundational: the programs that train America’s nurses. President Trump’s fiscal year 2027 budget request, released this week, calls for eliminating nearly all Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs — federally funded grants that support nursing education, clinical training, recruitment, and retention across the country. The proposed cut would eliminate roughly $212.8 million from these programs, a reduction of nearly 70%. Only one Title VIII program would survive intact: the Nurse Corps Scholarship and Loan Repayment Program, which helps nurses who…
Indianapolis, Indiana — Nearly 500 nursing homes across Indiana haven’t received routine Medicaid payments since December — not because the state isn’t willing to pay, but because the federal government hasn’t signed off on the math. The total amount owed now stands at roughly $462 million, representing two missed quarterly payments that were supposed to flow through Indiana’s PathWays for Aging program, the state’s managed care initiative for long-term services. A third payment is approaching in June, and providers say there’s no sign the backlog will clear in time. At the center of the delay: the Centers for Medicare and…
Washington, D.C. — When the U.S. Department of Justice announced record-breaking False Claims Act recoveries at the start of 2026, the headlines focused on federal enforcement. What didn’t make the news was what was happening at the state level — and it’s a trend that every nursing home operator in the country should understand. State attorneys general have been steadily expanding their role in long-term care enforcement, running parallel investigations that often fly below the radar of the national press. The result is a second layer of legal exposure that operators are just beginning to reckon with. State False Claims…
Washington, D.C. — A group of Democratic senators led by Elizabeth Warren is pressing federal health officials to clean up Medicare Advantage before the Trump administration rolls out a controversial plan to automatically enroll seniors into the program. In a letter sent to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, Warren and eight colleagues argued that CMS must address a long list of problems with Medicare Advantage — from inflated insurer payments to prior-authorization denials — rather than expand the program’s footprint. The letter was a direct response to comments from Medicare Director Chris Klomp, who said last…
Chapel Hill, North Carolina — For years, dementia care in nursing homes has followed a familiar script: diagnose it, slow its progression with medication, manage the symptoms. But a growing body of research is pointing toward a different front in the fight — the gut. A new systematic review published in Nutrition Research synthesized evidence from 15 studies involving more than 4,000 adults aged 45 and older with cognitive impairment or at elevated risk of dementia. The findings were clear: multiple approaches to reshaping the gut microbiome — including probiotics, prebiotic supplements, Mediterranean and keto diets, and fecal microbiota transplants…
Washington, D.C. — The White House has released its proposed budget for fiscal year 2027, and the numbers aren’t pretty for the healthcare industry. The Trump administration is asking Congress to cut $15.8 billion — roughly 12.5% — from the Department of Health and Human Services, dropping the agency’s discretionary funding from about $126.9 billion to $111.1 billion. For nursing homes already navigating a CMS agency stretched thin on staffing, the proposal raises serious questions about what federal oversight of long-term care will look like in the years ahead. The budget, released Friday, targets several agencies that directly or indirectly…
Baltimore, Maryland — For years, most nursing homes have sat on the sidelines of Medicare’s shift to value-based care, watching other providers collect shared savings while facing the administrative burden and financial risk that made participation unworkable. A new federal model just changed the math. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services officially opened applications for the Long-term Enhanced ACO Design — or LEAD — model on March 31, marking what regulators are calling the most ambitious accountable care initiative the agency has ever designed. Applications are due May 17, 2026, with the program launching January 1, 2027. What the…
Washington, D.C. — Federal regulators are pushing healthcare facilities to clean up what they serve patients — and nursing home operators say the new guidance is headed their way too. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sent a memo to hospitals in late March directing them to overhaul their menus in line with the updated 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The guidance, championed by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, calls for eliminating ultra-processed foods, sugary drinks, and refined carbohydrates — replacing them with whole grains, lean proteins, vegetables, and minimally processed ingredients. “For…
