A sweeping legislative report faulted the state for a COVID-19 outbreak that swept through the Holyoke Soldiers' Home last year and killed 76 veterans.
Report: ‘Perfect storm’ conditions preceded Soldiers’ Home tragedy
Signs, flags, flowers and wreaths are placed at the entrance to the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Wednesday, Apr. 8, 2020. GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Published: 5/25/2021 11:54:04 AM
The Legislature should require the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home superintendent to be a licensed nursing home administrator, elevate the secretary of veterans’ services to the Cabinet, create a paid ombudsman position at both state-run soldiers’ homes, and impose a raft of chain of command protocols and training requirements, a panel of lawmakers concluded after reviewing the deadly COVID-19 outbreak that struck the facility last year.
In a sweeping report that directed blame at the Baker administration for failing to address poor leadership and leaving key positions unfilled, a special committee created to probe the tragedy punctuated its findings with a long list of recommended legislative actions.
Photo: Sam Edwards/Getty Images
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General has found that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services overpaid Anthem roughly $3.4 million due to the insurer allegedly failing to comply with certain federal coding requirements.
In conducting an audit of the Medicare Advantage organization, OIG focused on seven groups of high-risk diagnosis codes. The objective was to determine whether selected diagnosis codes that Anthem submitted for use in CMS s risk adjustment program complied with federal requirements.
The OIG sampled 203 unique enrollee-years with the high-risk diagnosis codes for which Anthem received higher payments for 2015 through 2016. The agency limited the review to the portions of the payments that were associated with those codes, which totaled $599,842.
Senate confirms Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to run health care programs
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Senate confirms Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to run health care programs
AP / Updated: May 26, 2021, 01:07 IST
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US Medicare Handbook. File: AP Photo
WASHINGTON: The Senate on Tuesday confirmed President Joe Biden s pick to run US health insurance programs, putting in place a key player who ll carry out his strategy for expanding affordable coverage and reining in prescription drug costs. Obama-era policy adviser Chiquita Brooks-LaSure will be the first Black person to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, which also administers children s health insurance and the Affordable Care Act. Together, the programs cover more than 130 million people, from newborns to nursing home residents, and play a central role in the nation s health care system.
What You Need to Know
Chiquita Brooks-LaSure will oversee Medicaid and Affordable Care Act programs as well as Medicare.
She worked early in her career for the federal Office of Management and Budget.
She also has worked on the staff of the House Ways and Means Committee.
The Senate today voted 55-44 to confirm the nomination of Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to be the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
All of the 50 Democrats who voted backed Brooks-LaSure.
Brooks-LaSure also won support from five Republicans.
The list of Republicans supporting her included three senators who are known for voting with their party Richard Burr of North Carolinam, Roy Blunt of Missouri and Jerry Moran of Kansas as well as Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, two Republicans who have voted with the Democrats on several high-profile health care bills and nominations.