CMS Announces Sweeping Reform of Conditions of Participation for Long-Term Care Facilities

Earlier this month, Arent Fox Health Care partner David S. Greenberg co-authored an article published in Bloomberg BNA’s Medicare Report on the implications of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed revisions affecting long-term care facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs.

On July 16, 2015 CMS published a Proposed Rule that would substantially reorganize and revise the current requirements. Comments on the Rule are due by September 14.

In the article, Mr. Greenberg writes that, “While many of the proposed changes simply reorganize the structure of the current regulations, there are several new requirements that are worthy of consideration and comment by the long-term care industry from an operational, policy and financial perspective,” noting that according to CMS, “the total projected cost of implementation of the new rule could exceed $700 million in the first year alone. If accurate, the implementation would cost $46,491 per long-term care facility for just the first year that the Rule is effective.”

He goes on to provide crucial insights about the most substantial changes to the current Medicare conditions of participation, highlighting key areas of the Rule that long-term care facilities should particularly note during the finalization process and for possible comment.

To read the article from Bloomberg BNA, click here.