Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFEs), sometimes called “Assisted Living” or “Board and Care,” are not licensed as medical facilities. Accordingly, neither Medicare nor Medi–Cal pay directly for care in RCFEs .
On December 1, the California Health Care Foundation released a new report – COVID-19 in California’s Nursing Homes: Factors Associated with Cases and Deaths – that was prepared by a team of researchers from UCSF, Cal Hospital Compare and IBM Watson Health.
On January 18, CANHR and the Consumer Voice for Quality Long Term Care sued the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services over a 2017 policy directive that pushes nursing home enforcers into smaller “per instance” fines instead of “per diem” fines that hold facilities accountable for each day of their wrongdoing. The directive has been particularly loathsome during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when strong enforcement of our nursing home care standards has never been more important. Read AARP’s press release about the lawsuit here. CANHR is being represented by AARP Foundation and Constantine Cannon LLP.
The Spectrum Institute and some other organizations will be hosting a town hall meeting on February 1 at 11:00 to review the problems in California’s conservatorship system and discuss possible reform efforts.Download flyer with more information HERE.