I. FOLLOWING THE NARRATIVE: A quick summary of national media trends last week.
(* indicates that LeadingAge is featured in the story.)
Following the Nov. 5th House passage of infrastructure legislation, news outlets kept tabs on key Congressional influencers and the coming Congressional Budget Office scoring to assess the fate of Build Back Better legislation in the House. Other topics on reporters’ radar: CMS’ changes to visitation policy, legal challenges to OSHA’s and CMS’ employee vaccine mandates, and workforce shortages in long-term care.
Build Back Better Reconciliation
- Politico Opinion ‘We Don’t Fix This Because We Just Don’t Care About Old People
- *McKnight’s Senior Living: Now is the time for older adults, their caregivers: aging services leaders
- NBC: Centrist Democrats now hold the cards as infrastructure bill heads to Biden’s desk
- Talking Points Memo: Gottheimer Won’t Commit To Backing BBB If CBO Score Doesn’t Match WH Analysis
- The New Yorker: Inside the Democrats’ Battle to Build Back Better
- *McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: $1.6 billion remains in Biden’s proposal for ‘historic’ workforce allocations
- Boston Globe: Families Struggling to Provide Home Health Care Would Get Boost in the Democrats’ spending Bill but Advocates say It’s Not Enough
Vaccine Mandates & Workforce Shortages
- The Associated Press: Missouri to let nursing homes close due to vaccine mandate
- U.S. News & World Report: Vaccine Mandate Sparks Rural Health Care Staffing Concerns
- The New York Times: Ten states sue the U.S. over the vaccine mandate for health care workers
- McKnights Long-Term Care News: Not so fast: 10 states suing CMS over healthcare worker vax mandate
- *McKnights Long-Term Care News: COVID vaccine mandate will survive legal challenges, experts believe
- *McKnights Senior Living: Legal challenges aside, senior living operators advised to keep preparing for COVID-19 vaccine mandate
- CBS Miami: Florida Health Providers Caught Between State, Feds On Vaccines
- The Topeka Capital-Journal: Governor calls special session as business groups object to proposed vaccine mandate response
- McKnights Long-Term Care News: ‘Powder keg’ threat: State lawmakers consider staffing support for nursing homes
- MarketWatch: ‘Caregivers are getting burned out by the pandemic’: Labor shortages are taking a huge toll on nursing homes
- Fierce Healthcare: Report: Nursing homes shed 221K jobs since start of pandemic while other sectors have recovered
- Skilled Nursing News: 210,000 Workers Have Left Nursing Homes Since March 2020
- Skilled Nursing News: Concerns Over Staff Vaccine Rate Variability Remain As Operators Prepare for Jan. 4 Deadline
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New federal rule requires Wisconsin nursing home workers to get COVID-19 vaccine by Jan. 4, but leaves out assisted living
- The National Law Review: CMS Requires COVID-19 Vaccination for Health Care Facility Staff
- WV News: Expert: Health care faces ‘perfect storm’ of staffing challenges
- Home Care: Employer Appreciation is a Game Changer in Health Care Staffing
II. Other Clips that Influenced the Week: LeadingAge is a sought-out, reliable source for multiple trade and national media outlets (see that coverage posted in our LeadingAge Press Room). Other key clips that shaped the narrative last week:
- *The Associated Press: Nursing homes can now lift most COVID restrictions on visits
- *McKnight’s Senior Living: Payment, regulatory and staffing reforms could emerge from effort to ‘reimagine’ care for older adults
- Forbes: Stunning Vaccine Stat: 98.5% Of U.S. Seniors Have Had Shot
- CNBC: Aging baby boomers raise the risk of a long-term-care crisis in the U.S.
- *TexasMonthly: Can Virtual Reality Make Older Adults Happier and Healthier?
- Skilled Nursing News: Telehealth Not A ‘One-Size-Fits-All’ Solution For Nursing Homes, Study Finds
- The Hill: Medicare beneficiaries must have the option to recover safely at home
- The Boston Globe: Immunity is waning among nursing home staff and few have received COVID boosters, state data show
- Associated Press: Class action lawsuit filed against new WA long-term care tax
III. What’s On Our Radar — this week’s likely priorities:
- Advocacy focused on aging services elements of Build Back Better
- Monitoring rules, guidance and legal challenges to vaccine mandates
IV. National Statements & Products (all posted on the Press Room page):
