Jordan Rau

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jrau@kff.org

As Covid Infections Rise, Nursing Homes Are Still Waiting for Vaccines

“People want covid-19 to be in the rearview mirror,” one nursing home official says. Faced with a slow rollout of the updated covid vaccines, and without state mandates for workers to get vaccinated, most skilled nursing facilities are relying on persuasion to boost vaccination rates among staff and residents.

Nursing Home Owners Drained Cash During Pandemic While Residents Deteriorated

As the federal government debates whether to require higher staffing levels at nursing homes, financial records show owners routinely push profits to sister companies while residents are neglected. “A dog would get better care than he did,” one resident’s wife said.

Biden’s Promise of Better Nursing Home Care Will Require Many More Workers

The president wants to set minimum staffing levels for the beleaguered nursing home industry. But, given a lack of transparency surrounding the industry’s finances, it’s a mystery how facilities will shoulder the added costs.

Health Care Paradox: Medicare Penalizes Dozens of Hospitals It Also Gives Five Stars

Among the 764 hospitals hit with a 1% reduction in Medicare payments this year for having high numbers of patient infections and avoidable complications are more than three dozen that Medicare also ranks as among the best in the country, including Cedar-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

A Title Fight Pits Physician Assistants Against Doctors

Physician assistants are pushing to be renamed “physician associates,” complaining their title is belittling and doesn’t convey what they do. “We don’t assist,” they insist. Doctors’ groups fear there’s more than just a name in play.