Long Term Care & Senior Living Blog

On October 1, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CME”) will be retiring Section G, a measure of the functional status of nursing home residents, from the Medicare and Medicaid Minimum Data Sets (“MDS”). In its place, CMS offers Section GG, which places rehabilitation services into its own case mix component instead of including with other clinical conditions.

On Monday, February 13, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), submitted a proposed rule that goes beyond current data collections requirements by requiring nursing facilities to disclose additional information regarding ownership.

As every long-term care facility doing business in Illinois can attest, Medicaid eligibility determinations and benefit awards have been slow, with HFS often falling months, if not years, behind. A group of SNFs and their residents are trying to change that. Several healthcare providers and their patients have filed suit against Felicia Norwood in her official capacity as the Director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (“HFS”) in federal court.

The past few weeks have been busy ones for the Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard Long-Term Care and Senior Living team as we have collectively analyzed and blogged about each of the revisions to the federal nursing home regulations. These revisions to 42 CFR 483(B) are the first comprehensive updates since 1991 and address the requirements Long-Term Care facilities must meet to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Implementation Date: November 28, 2016¹Section 483.15 replaces section 483.12 and requires the facility to establish an admissions policy. Section (a)(2) states facilities cannot request or require residents or potential residents to waive their rights to Medicare or Medicaid benefits or any rights conferred by applicable state, federal and local licensing or certification laws. Section(a)(2)(iii) prohibits facilities from requesting or requiring residents or potential residents to waive facility liability for personal property losses.