Challenging its membership to "hold itself accountable in ensuring a higher-quality, lower cost health care system," the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living today announced a new, three-year quality initiative to be unveiled tomorrow during its 4th Annual Quality Symposium in Houston, Texas.

Both houses of Congress today approved an agreement struck yesterday by a conference committee to extend the payroll-tax cut to the end of 2012 and eliminate a steep cut in physician fees in the Medicare program. The final bill also provides for the therapy caps exceptions process to be in place until the end of the year.

Late last night, congressional conferees reached an agreement on the payroll tax and doc fix issues. According to sources, the draft deal provides for the therapy cap exceptions process, as well as the doc fix, to be in place until the end of the year.

A new white paper named 250 quality measures that researchers believe to be associated with potentially preventable hospitalizations for the nation’s frail and elderly population, including such examples as “hospital admissions for diabetes” and for “chronic cardiac conditions.”

Long term and post-acute care industry leaders think President Obama’s fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget plan misses the mark by relying solely on cuts to Medicare to reduce spending instead of working with providers on alternatives to reduce hospital readmissions, among other cost saving ideas.

The federal government’s efforts to crack down on health care fraud garnered nearly $4.1 billion in recovered funds in fiscal year 2011, according to a report released today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Amid reports that President Obama's fiscal year 2013 budget will include sizable cuts to Medicare and Medicaid funding for nursing homes, the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) unveiled its own suggestions for the White House to consider on Wednesday.

The Obama Administration this week announced a new effort to combat what many call an epidemic in cases of Alzheimer’s disease by releasing an additional $50 million for cutting-edge research. The White House fiscal year 2013 budget will also include an $80 million funding boost for Alzheimer’s research, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Fresh research by the American Health Care Association (AHCA) confirms news in the government’s job report last week that health care jobs, notably in the long term and post-acute care sector, will be a leading source of employment over the next decade.

Amidst the congressional debate on how to pay for a temporary delay in physician payments slated for March 1, long term and post-acute care advocates are proposing new methods to stave off billions in Medicare payment cuts by keeping discharged hospital patients from being readmitted.

Occupancy rates for seniors housing continued to show signs of a slow recovery, while construction activity dipped in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to NIC MAP, a data analysis service of the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry (NIC).

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Acting Administrator Marilyn Tavenner told a conference on Thursday that her agency is working to change the health care delivery system through public and private partnerships fueled by the newly established Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation.

For the second straight year, the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) released its own assessment of the LTPAC sector to coincide with the annual presidential report of the nation’s standing. The AHCA/NCAL report offers positive news on the steps being taken by providers to fulfill the mission of giving high-quality care, but warns future advances are not a certainty without adequate reimbursement.

Provider has learned that Marilyn Tavenner, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator, will speak at the upcoming 4th Annual Quality Symposium sponsored by the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) in Houston, Texas, Feb. 23 and 24. Tavenner, who was recently nominated by President Obama following the resignation of Donald Berwick, MD, was acting CMS administrator in 2010 and has also served as Virginia’s secretary of Health and Human Resources.

Exercise aided by virtual reality has cognitive benefits over traditional exercise for older adults, according to a new study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Virtual reality-enhanced exercise that combines physical exercise with computer-simulated environments and interactive video game features can produce greater cognitive benefits for older adults than traditional exercise alone, according to the study.

Long term and post-acute care providers gave a mixed review of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) fiscal year 2013 recommendations to Congress, declaring support for the commission’s moves on rehospitalization, but strongly objecting to plans for rebasing skilled nursing facility (SNF) Medicare payments starting in 2014.

U.S. health care spending experienced historically low rates of growth in 2009 and 2010, according to the annual report of National Health Expenditures (NHE) published in the January issue of Health Affairs. In the report, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said the increase in spending for 2009 represents the lowest such rate in the entire 51-year history of the NHE.

Two recent studies shed light on dementia risk factors and its diagnosis. The first study, published in the Archives of Neurology, found that Adiponectin, a hormone derived from visceral fat, could play a role in the development of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in women.

A new year started mere days ago, but the long term care profession faces the exact same challenges that the end of 2011 offered when Congress could not resolve a permanent solution to the so-called "doc fix" for paying doctors in the Medicare program, which was instead folded into the emergency passage of a temporary two-month extension of the payroll tax cut.

The long term care community expressed optimism that the new interim administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Marilyn Tavenner, will be a leader they can work with on issues vital to the industry. President Obama nominated Tavenner, formerly chief operating officer and principal deputy administrator of CMS, to become administrator of the agency after Donald Berwick, MD, resigned effective Dec. 2.

The Senate’s approval on Saturday of a measure that extends the therapy cap extension process for two months may be another step closer to victory for nursing home advocates, but House Republicans are not quite ready to toe the line.

A first-of-its-kind survey by the federal government of assisted living/residential care facilities and residents provides a large new source of data on the profession, including important trends like the growing role of the Medicaid program in the field, experts said recently.