“COVID Cases, Deaths Plummet in Nursing Homes After Vaccine Rollout,” by Robin Foster and Ernie Mundell, HealthDay   Quote: “In a hopeful turnaround during a long pandemic, U.S. nursing homes that were once the epicenter of coronavirus infections are now seeing both cases and deaths fall steeply as the country’s vaccination rollout starts to take hold. … The downward trend in deaths was even more heartening: Even as fatalities spiked overall this winter, deaths inside nursing homes have dropped by more than 65 percent.”   LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Turning the corner.  
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“Why Some ‘Super Ager’ Folks Keep Their Minds Dementia-Free,” by Amy Norton, HealthDay   Quote: “Researchers may have uncovered a key reason some people remain sharp as a tack into their 80s and 90s: Their brains resist the buildup of certain proteins that mark Alzheimer’s disease. The study focused on what scientists have dubbed ‘super agers’ — a select group of older folks who have the memory performance of people decades younger. Compared with older people who had average brain power, super agers showed far less evidence of ‘tau tangles’ in their brains, the researchers found.”   LTC Comment, Stephen
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“As Nursing Homes Lose Patients to Home Health During COVID, Past Shifts Show Path Forward,” by Alex Spanko, Skilled Nursing News  Quote: “The size and permanence of a COVID-era shift to home health has emerged as a top metric to watch in post-acute and long-term care in 2021. … On the flip side, investment analysts and top real estate investment trust (REIT) landlords are banking on a return to normal patient volumes as they look for any signs of financial tailwinds for the year ahead.” LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Are we “rebalancing” or
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“MA Members Could See High Out-of-Pocket Costs For COVID-19,” by Hannah Nelson, HealthPayerIntelligence  Quote: “High out-of-pocket costs may dissuade some Medicare Advantage beneficiaries from seeking COVID-19 care as payers eliminate cost-sharing waivers, according to a new American Journal of Preventive Medicine study that calls for legislation to mandate insurers cover hospitalizations from the virus. While most payers currently cover COVID-19 hospitalization costs in full for Medicare Advantage (MA) beneficiaries, some insurers have started to roll back cost-sharing waivers, which may suggest that coverage for COVID-19 hospitalizations is on its way out.”   LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform: Sure, if the government
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“One of Ten in U.S. May Have to Switch Occupations Post Pandemic,” by Rich Miller, Bloomberg  Quote: “One out of every ten U.S. workers — about 17 million, all told — will likely be forced to leave their jobs and take up new occupations by 2030 as Covid-19’s after-effects destroy huge swathes of low-paying positions in a labor market that was primed for disruption before the pandemic. Women, minorities, the young and the less educated will probably be the hardest hit by what consultant firm McKinsey & Co. foresees in a new report as an unprecedented hollowing out of low-wage work in
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