Elder Law News

As part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government is broadly expanding coverage of Medicare telehealth services to beneficiaries and relaxing HIPAA enforcement. This will give doctors the ability to provide more services to patients remotely. 

The spread of the coronavirus to nursing home residents has caused the federal government to direct nursing homes to restrict visitor access. Families are having to find new ways to stay in touch.  

Living Day to day in the context of coronavirus-  This is a 2 page resource that gives good advice on caring for yourself and useful information comparing Coronavirus, colds and flu symptoms, and how/why to clean AND disinfect.

To protect its workers and the public during the coronavirus pandemic, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has suspended face-to-face service to the public at its field offices and hearings offices nationwide.

As the coronavirus spreads across the United States, nursing home residents are among the most vulnerable to the disease. How to try to ensure that your loved one stays healthy? 

With coronavirus dominating news coverage and creating alarm, it is important to know that Medicare and Medicaid will cover tests for the virus. 

NOTE: https://nursinghome411.org/ JoNel Aleccia, Kaiser Health News March 1, 2020 An outbreak of coronavirus disease in a nursing home near Seattle is prompting urgent calls for precautionary tactics at America’s elder care facilities, where residents are at heightened risk of serious complications from the illness because of the dual threat of age and close living […]

Jordan Rau, Kaiser Health News March 4, 2020 Long before the novel coronavirus made its surprise appearance, the nation’s nursing homes were struggling to obey basic infection prevention protocols designed to halt the spread of viruses and bacteria they battle daily. Since the beginning of 2017, government health inspectors have cited more nursing homes for […]

Jordan Rau, Kaiser Health News March 4, 2020 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is ordering health inspectors to focus on infection-control practices at nursing homes and hospitals, particularly those where coronavirus infections have been identified among patients or in the community, CMS Administrator Seema Verma announced Wednesday. “We are hyperfocused on infection control […]

A new payment method for Medicare providers is making it harder for some home health care patients to receive physical, occupational, or speech therapy. Under the new system, providers are refusing to cover some therapy services.