Debt lawsuits — a byproduct of America's medical debt crisis — can ensnare not only patients but also those who help sick and older people be admitted to nursing homes, a KHN-NPR investigation finds.
The owner of seven Louisiana nursing homes whose residents suffered in squalid conditions after being evacuated to a warehouse as Hurricane Ida approached last year was arrested on Wednesday.
To address the problem of poor care, President Biden is calling for a federal minimum staffing requirement in nursing homes. The nursing home industry says there aren't workers to fill the jobs.
Hundreds of thousands of nursing home workers have quit since the pandemic began, and the ones still working suffer from burnout. Industry leaders worry the system is fracturing.
COVID cases and deaths are rising again in nursing homes across the country due to the highly contagious omicron variant. Staffing shortages are adding to strain and workers report "moral distress."
Public health workers are going church to church and house to house in the state's secluded valleys to dispel COVID myths, ease isolation, bring aid, and convince wary residents to get vaccinated.
Four nursing home residents in Louisiana have died after being evacuated to another facility ahead of Hurricane Ida. Health officials are investigating reports of unsafe conditions at the site.
The Georgia Health Care Association submitted a request Monday for $347 million from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Congress passed last spring for nursing homes, citing a significant decline in nursing home occupancy during the pandemic.
Nursing homes will be required to ensure their staffers are vaccinated against COVID-19, or risk losing federal Medicare and Medicaid dollars, the Biden administration announced Wednesday in a major move on vaccinations as the delta variant sweeps many states.
Georgia is second to last among states in conducting comprehensive inspections of its nursing homes, according to a federal report. More than 90 percent of Georgia nursing homes had gone without a thorough inspection for at least 16 months as of May 31, the report found.
Georgia is last in the nation in conducting recertification inspections of its nursing homes, according to a recent media report. By the end of March, nearly 80 percent of Georgia facilities had gone for at least 18 months without these comprehensive inspections.
A federal push to reach both residents and staff at long-term care facilities is winding down, leaving many workers who care for the elderly and vulnerable unvaccinated.
A Senate health committee narrowly passed a bill Tuesday that promotes the use of cameras in rooms of residents of long-term care facilities to prevent neglect or abuse.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services now recommends that visitors and residents, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, be allowed to meet in person under most circumstances.
Nearly 30 states temporarily shielded nursing homes from COVID-19 lawsuits. But resident advocates say that protection means they can't sue for things that have nothing to do with the coronavirus.
