Q. Last year, during his State of the Union address, President Biden discussed a major overhaul of nursing home quality, including minimum staffing levels and steps to beef up inspections. Since then, I haven’t heard about any of these quality measures being implemented. My mother will need nursing home care in the near future, and […]
Medicare Advantage Plans May Shorten Stays to Less Time than Original Medicare Covers
A common question among many of our readers is whether Medicare covers long-term care. Medicare does not cover any type of long-term care, whether in nursing homes, assisted living communities, or your own home. Medicare does, however, cover most short-term stays for rehabilitation after a hospitalization, and in some situations, Medicare Advantage plans are cutting […]
Can a Friend or Cousin Get Sued if Someone Owes Money to a Nursing Home?
Q. Medical debt seems like a big issue these days, with myself and others I know struggling to pay medical bills. I heard that hospitals and nursing homes are suing more often to get their debts paid. Oddly, my friend in upstate New York is being sued by a nursing home for another friend’s debts. […]
Significant Improvements to Safety and Quality Care for Long-Term Care Residents
Last week, the Biden administration announced several nursing home reforms that will improve staffing and accountability at nursing homes throughout the country. Advocates are calling these the most significant reforms in decades. As part of Biden’s plan, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has updated a guidance on minimum health and safety standards […]
CMS Lifts COVID-19 Nursing Home Visitation Restrictions
Before the pandemic and even more so during it, social isolation and loneliness have been considered serious health risks for older Americans. Judith Gimbel worries that isolation is killing her mother, Ida, who she hasn’t seen in years but talks to on the phone often. “I don’t think she’s deteriorating … I know she is,” […]
What the US Government is Doing to Keep Nursing Homes COVID-Free
In late spring of 2021, the 142 nursing homes operated by the Good Samaritan Society hit a milestone that was unthinkable just four months earlier: Zero cases of COVID-19 across the whole company, from 900 at the peak of the pandemic. The relief was short-lived though. In recent months, the case count has ticked up […]
These Non-Traditional Senior Living Facilities Have Almost No Coronavirus Cases
On a recent afternoon, Ruth Deardorff, 97, sat by the orchids and other potted flowers that she had chosen to line the windowsill of her room. After decades of gardening and growing flowers in the yard of her suburban home, she finds comfort in having flowers in her room. Ruth feels safe and content in […]
How Nursing Homes are Planning for a Third Surge of COVID-19
When it comes to COVID-19, the news from around the country isn’t encouraging. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon and chief medical correspondent for CNN, said he is concerned that the United States is facing “exponential growth” of COVID-19 cases. Doctors Believe that Personal Behaviors are Driving the Projections Up Some people in their fatigue from […]
Boo! Our Top 10 Scariest Articles of 2020 (A Very Scary Year!)
2020 has been a scary year! Since we’re so close to Halloween, it’s a perfect time to catch up on some of the scariest elder law, estate planning, and special needs planning articles until now. Exposing everything from dementia at 30 to coronavirus patients being moved to nursing homes, our subject matter can get pretty […]
A Coronavirus Vaccine for Nursing Homes?
Over the last few months, biopharmaceutical companies have achieved what usually takes years. Driven by a shared mission to find a solution to the coronavirus pandemic, they are working at “Warp Speed” to rapidly develop a coronavirus vaccine and distribute it to those who are most in need. Dr. Jay Butler, deputy director of infectious […]
How Virginia, Maryland, and DC are Using Strike Teams to Combat COVID-19 in Nursing Homes
As of August 31, 2020, there are over 6 million cases of COVID-19 in the US and 183,000 people have died. There are many horrific tragedies that have occurred over the past six months, but one of the worst is how coronavirus decimated many nursing homes across the country. More than 70,000 people who were […]
Virginia, Maryland, and DC Now Allow Visitors in Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities
Q. Last month, we had a scare when the nursing home where my mother, Marcia (85), who has dementia, resides called and said that she stopped eating and seems depressed and withdrawn. Although she doesn’t quite know who we are, my mother used to light up when we visited and brought the grandchildren. The nurse […]
Virginia Allocates $246 million to Help Long-term Care Facilities After COVID-19 Pandemic
At a retirement community in Springfield, the last scheduled event that Lea (88) attended was a Valentine’s Day dance in February. Since then, there have been no more potluck dinners, card games, special outings, or other social activities scheduled at Lea’s complex. And even as Virginia enters phase 3, it’s unclear to her when things […]
Will Your Stimulus Check Affect Medicaid Eligibility?
Last month, many of us received stimulus checks in the mail. In fact, according to USA Today, 88% of Americans aged 18 and older were eligible for them. The check distribution started after the government passed the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to help those facing financial setbacks amid the […]
Should Nursing Homes Reopen to Visitors?
Q. My mother, Betty, is in a nursing home in Richmond. Although she has advanced dementia, I could tell that she always enjoyed our family’s visits. Her face always brightened when she saw me, my wife, and her grandchildren. She would smile when we looked through old photo albums, listened to her favorite songs, or […]
Are They Moving Coronavirus Patients into Nursing Homes?
Q. My mother, Phyllis, is in a nursing home in Northern Virginia. I heard that across the country, they are moving coronavirus patients into nursing homes. I understand that my mom is quarantined to her room, but I still think that this a bad idea given that seniors (particularly nursing home patients) are among the […]
Harvard Doctor Reimagines Aging and Reinvents Nursing Homes
“We’re taught that aging is all about decline. In truth, it’s all about change. We taste the sweetness of aging when we choose its meaning.” – Dr. Bill Thomas Bill Thomas, a doctor who calls himself the “Nursing Home Abolitionist” is seeking to change how we think about aging and nursing home care. Back in […]
Are VA Nursing Homes Free for Veterans?
Q. My father is a Vietnam Veteran who will almost certainly need nursing home care in the future. Will the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) nursing home system take care of him for free? Are VA nursing homes as good as private ones? Are there many VA nursing homes in the DC Metro area? And […]
New Nursing Home Rules Offer Residents More Control of Their Care
Mark has been a loving caregiver for his mother, Roberta, who has had Alzheimer’s for over five years. Roberta now needs more care than Mark can provide. Mark has spent lots of time and energy seeking quality options in long-term skilled nursing facilities, with “person-centered” care being of utmost importance to him. Person-centered care is […]
Home Health Aides Are Quitting Their Jobs
The in-home care industry has been anticipated to be the largest job creator between 2012 and 2022, with an estimated 1 million new caregivers required during that time. Now some are questioning whether there will be enough people willing to fill those positions and that need. Elizabeth drives 100 miles a day, to several different […]