The Senate Finance Committee voted in favor of a budget amendment that would reimburse licensed nursing assistants for their medication nursing assistant certification program costs. According to Sen. Howard Pearl, a Loudon Republican who introduced the amendment, MNA certification would play an important role in easing the workload of nurses at nursing homes and hospitals. “When it comes to dispersing certain medications, the LNAs themselves are not able to do it without the medical certification, or becoming an MNA,” he said.
Home care service providers are supporting legislation to create more transparency in the rate-setting process for their workers. Every two years, the state looks at factors such as mandatory minimum wage, inflation and the cost of travel, and comes up with a reimbursement rate for home care and health services. Providers of these services bill nonprofit agencies called Aging Services Access Points, which are then reimbursed by the state at the agreed-upon rate.
Nebraska health care advocates say there aren’t enough home health care professionals in the state. Since the start of the pandemic, it’s estimated that 33 percent more Nebraskans are being referred to health care at home because of the overcrowding at hospitals. That’s according to Janet Seelhoff, Executive Director for the Nebraska Association of Home Healthcare and Hospice.
I didn’t even know long-term home health care existed until I retired. I went to the agency SeniorsPlus to learn about Medicare and also learned about all the other wonderful work they do, including keeping people safe in their homes when a nursing home is the alternative. One way they do this is by getting them a nurse to visit. A nurse like me. Six years on, I still love my part-time job, which has become even more important in that time.
Four groups have filed a certificate-of-need application with state health regulators to develop a new Medicaid-certified home health agency in Forsyth County. The applications are considered as competitive. A home health agency is a licensed home care agency that is certified to receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement for providing nursing care, therapy, medical social services and home health aide services.
Changing the way our community receives health care, that’s a Savannah company’s philosophy for serving adults 65 and older. Seeing a need in the community, Scott and Amy Pierce opened Coastal Care Partners providing aging life care management, in-home care, and other health care needs for aging seniors.