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Friday Review
Friday Review—11/15/19
Hello and happy Fri-yay to all! Why is it when we have a short week, it seems like it takes forever for Friday to get here?
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!—Thanks to everybody who came out and made our PAC fundraiser such a success last night! We had more than 100 in attendance and the gift baskets were wonderful. Although there were a few “bidding wars” on some items there were no elbows thrown and bidders behaved in an orderly fashion. A big thank you to everyone who donated a gift basket. And a special shout out to Jana Damm who organized the event as well as Katie Norman, Kelly Arnold, Laura Wischnowsky and Lindsey Bouchard (and maybe a couple of others) who helped at the registration and payment desk. Thanks to all!
State RUG update…sort of—As many of you are well aware, the State is having a problem with RUG scores being randomly changed on some residents to a default value of AAA. You received an email from RI Medicaid yesterday, but a number of you did not find this satisfactory. I have been in touch with EOHHS as late as this morning. They tell me that they are still trying to locate the exact source of the problem. They assure me that claims will be re-adjudicated when the problem is found. This will include off-cycle payments if at all possible. If I get any additional updates, I will send them along.
Fighting Medicaid Cuts in NY—A judge in New York has stepped in, in an attempt to stop millions of Medicaid dollars from being cut. https://apnews.com/ad0a08a3578a42c8ba67a7cf219e867b
Some good news—CMS is taking steps to expand behavioral health treatment under Medicaid. https://www.mcknights.com/news/first-of-its-kind-medicaid-project-to-increase-access-to-behavioral-health-treatments/
Similar to Rhode Island—The state of Washington is seeing a dramatic increase in its over-65 population. Nursing homes are closing. (While homes are not closing in RI, yet, some are foregoing their SNF beds for Assisted Living.) And a state legislator there is trying to help. We will continue to work to convince the Rhode Island legislature that similar funding increases are essential to our facilities staying in business.
ACOs…--…don’t reduce Medicare spending. So says this article in McKnight’s: https://www.mcknights.com/news/medpac-throws-cold-water-on-glowing-aco-reports/
Medicare out of pocket costs—going up!—Medicare patients who are seriously ill are having to pay more out of their own pocket. That is according to Provider magazine. http://www.providermagazine.com/news/Pages/2019/1119/Pair-of-New-Studies-Point-to-Holes-in-Medicare-Coverage.aspx
Staffing—many planning to retire—Many of you are having a hard time keeping a full complement of nurses on board. This article in McKnight’s says the problem is only going to get worse. https://www.mcknights.com/news/nurse-staffing-shortage-expected-to-get-worse/
Hold that extra serving!—This study says a larger waist size may be directly related to dementia. I read the article, and am afraid to convert kilograms and centimeters to pounds and inches. I guess the key is to follow that old advice that the best exercise we can do is pushing ourselves away from the table. https://www.endocrinologyadvisor.com/home/topics/obesity/late-life-waist-circumference-measurements-associated-with-dementia/
In review, this is not the most uplifting Friday review you have ever read. So, let’s end things on a positive note. The Patriots are 8-1. They get back on the field this week against the Eagles. I predict they will get back on the winning track. Go Pats!
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