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Category Archives for Health Care Facility News
Consumer Credit Fairness Act: Are You Prepared to Properly Handle Collection Cases?
The New York Consumer Credit Fairness Act (CCFA) (enacted April 1, 2022), was intended to strengthen consumer protections by requiring debt collectors to be more honest and transparent in their communications. However, the law has significant implications for nursing homes seeking to collect amounts they are owed for services rendered. One of the most crucial changes […]
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The Rising Impact of Internet Defamation on Skilled Nursing Facilities
In recent years, skilled nursing facilities, like many other businesses, have all too often faced scathing online criticism in the form of negative reviews and postings on social media outlets. Left unaddressed, such statements can be very damaging to a facility’s professional reputation within the communities it serves. In an effort to combat the impact […]
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Legal Alert: The Continuous Coverage Requirement for NYS Medicaid Program Has Ended
In December 2022, the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) unlinked the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement from the public health emergency for the first time since March 2020. As a result of this change in the law, each state will be permitted to begin redetermining Medicaid eligibility as of February 1, 2023. According to the NYC Human Resources […]
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Legal Alert: New Law Means All Medicaid Recipients Must Recertify Beginning in April 2023
Since the onset of the Public Health Emergency created by the COVID-19 pandemic, federal law has required each state to maintain Medicaid eligibility for its Medicaid recipients in exchange for receiving billions of dollars in Medicaid funding, commonly referred to as the continuous coverage requirement. Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), Medicaid recipients […]
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Avoiding Evictions in Your Assisted Living Facility
No matter how diligently you vet a prospective resident, there are going to be times when your facility gets stuck with a resident, or a resident’s family, who doesn’t pay the bill. Most Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs) think that the only recourse is to initiate eviction proceedings. Before COVID, your typical eviction proceeding would drag […]
Continue readingThe Takeaway From CFPB & CMS’ September 8, 2022 “Notification Letter”
It seems like every Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) reacted differently to The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) joint “Notification Letter”. Some SNFs simply shrugged it off, thinking that it was pure puffery on the Feds part while others, and I believe rightfully so, read the “Notification […]
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The Smart Way to Appeal a Foolish Fair Hearing Decision
We’ve all read Fair Hearing Decisions and wondered whether the Administrative Law Judge and Commissioner’s Designee deciding the hearing actually knows the law. I recently had a decision come across my desk where the Department of Health concluded that the skilled nursing facility had no standing to file an application on behalf of a deceased […]
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THE DANGERS OF REFERRING YOUR FACILITY’S MEDICAID APPLICATIONS TO A MEDICAID CONSULTANT
A case study in “good things aren’t cheap and cheap things aren’t good” It seems like everyday there’s a new “Medicaid Consultant” advertising in the local paper, on-line or soliciting at nursing homes. But here’s the problem with these agencies: they’re not attorneys. We all know that the Medicaid Program, especially Institutional a/k/a “nursing home” […]
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NEW CASE LAW UPHOLDS THE ENFORCEABILITY OF A CAREFULLY CRAFTED ADMISSION AGREEMENT AGAINST A THIRD PARTY SIGNATOR
The enforceability of a nursing facility admission agreement against a third party signator (i.e. signed by a person other than the resident) has been and likely always be, a highly contested issue in any litigation in which a nursing facility is seeking to recover damages for breach of contract. However, a recent Appellate Division, Second […]
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All Admission Agreements Are Not Created Equal! How to Ensure Your Admission Agreement Protects Your Facility
Admission Agreements are the first line of defense in proactively addressing any financial concerns your facility may have in addressing problems with residents’ financial accounts. Even if your facility has a robust Admission Agreement, it may not include all of the important things that a facility may need it to cover in the event of […]
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