Jordan Rau

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jrau@kff.org

Real Estate Investors Profit From Long-Term Care While Residents Languish

ýҕl Health News Original

Real estate investment trusts are landlords for thousands of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and hospitals. Some select the managers and keep close watch over their performance but deny responsibility for bad care.

Judge in Nursing Home Bankruptcy Case Gives Families Fresh Hope of Compensation for Injuries, Deaths

ýҕl Health News Original

Genesis HealthCare’s controlling investor, Joel Landau, had sought to rebuy the nursing homes while gaining protection from settlement payments over allegations of poor care. A judge rejected the proposal and ordered a new auction. A ýҕl Health News investigation found Genesis settled hundreds of lawsuits but didn’t pay them out fully.

How Delays and Bankruptcy Let a Nursing Home Chain Avoid Paying Settlements for Injuries and Deaths

ýҕl Health News Original

Genesis HealthCare’s bankruptcy case in Dallas will allow the nursing home chain to avoid paying millions of dollars it promised for residents who were injured or died while in its care. Families say bankruptcy nullifies one of the main ways to hold nursing home owners accountable for poor care.

They Need a Ventilator To Stay Alive. Getting One Can Be a Nightmare.

ýҕl Health News Original

Few nursing homes are set up to care for people needing help breathing with a ventilator because of ALS or other infirmities. Insurers often resist paying for ventilators at home, and innovative programs are now endangered by Medicaid cuts.

Even Grave Errors at Rehab Hospitals Go Unpenalized and Undisclosed

ýҕl Health News Original

For-profit hospitals provide most inpatient physical therapy but tend to have worse readmission rates to general hospitals. Medicare doesn’t tell consumers about troubling inspections.

Their Physical Therapy Coverage Ran Out Before They Could Walk Again

ýҕl Health News Original

Health plans limit physical or occupational therapy sessions to as few as 20 a year, no matter the patient’s infirmities. The limits persist despite federal rules banning insurers from setting annual dollar limits on the care they will provide.

Nursing Home Industry Wants Trump To Rescind Staffing Mandate

ýҕl Health News Original

A Biden administration rule that imposed minimum rules on nursing levels may not survive, even though many homes lack enough workers to maintain residents’ care.

‘Scared to Death’: Nurses and Residents Confront Rampant Violence in Dementia Care Facilities

ýҕl Health News Original

Clashes between residents — verbal, physical, and sexual — can be spontaneous and too unpredictable to prevent. But the chance of an altercation increases when memory care homes admit and retain residents they can’t manage, according to a ýҕl Health News examination of inspection and court records and interviews with researchers.

Biden’s Nursing Home Staffing Rule Surfaces Horror Stories

ýҕl Health News Original

The Biden administration’s plan to set minimum staffing levels for nursing homes prompted comments from more than 46,500 people and organizations — including residents of homes and nurses with harrowing stories about conditions inside. Hundreds of comments like these cemented the resolve of officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last month to […]

Biden Administration Sets Higher Staffing Mandates. Most Nursing Homes Don’t Meet Them.

ýҕl Health News Original

The staffing regulation was disparaged by the industry as unattainable. Patient advocates say it doesn’t go far enough. Labor unions welcomed the requirement.

Senate Probes the Cost of Assisted Living and Its Burden on American Families

ýҕl Health News Original

In the wake of a ýҕl Health News-New York Times series, members of the Special Committee on Aging are asking residents and their families to submit their bills and are calling for a Government Accountability Office study.

‘Financial Ruin Is Baked Into the System’: Readers on the Costs of Long-Term Care

ýҕl Health News Original

Thousands of people shared their experiences and related to the financial drain on families portrayed in the “Dying Broke” series, a joint project by ýҕl Health News and The New York Times that examined the costs of long-term care.

Watch: The Long-Term Care Crisis: Why Few Can Afford to Grow Old in America

ýҕl Health News Original

Long-term care options in the U.S. are costly, complex, and often inadequate. ýҕl Health News’ Jordan Rau and Reed Abelson of The New York Times host a Zoom panel to explore the challenges of providing — and affording — care.