Additional Medicare nursing home ownership data is being made publicly available by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This effort may help improve nursing home transparency, safety and quality, and accountability by providing more information about the ownership of all Medicare-certified nursing homes. This data will, for the first time, give state licensing officials, state and federal law enforcement, researchers, and the public an enhanced ability to identify common owners of nursing homes across nursing home locations. This information can be linked to other data sources to identify [...]

  On October 1st, a federal appeals court decided to uphold restrictions that limit the use of binding arbitration agreements in nursing home admissions agreements. Binding arbitration agreements prior to the rise of any actual dispute have been promoted for decades as a way to reduce expenses by providing an alternative dispute resolution method. When used properly, arbitration agreements can provide the parties with a less expensive forum to solve disputes. However, binding arbitration agreements have also been used by the business community to attempt to limit themselves from potential liability by having a party relinquish their right to bring [...]