Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations Chief Operating Officer Tammy Hatting presents to legislators on Sept. 25, 2023, in Pierre. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

Proposed nursing home staffing standards are ‘disaster waiting to happen,’ industry reps say

BY: - September 25, 2023

PIERRE — Proposed federal staffing standards for nursing homes that accept Medicaid would be catastrophic for South Dakota facilities, industry representatives warn. The South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations and South Dakota Health Care Association both presented information to legislators at Thursday’s committee meeting at the Capitol on the sustainability of long-term care in the […]

Full length side view of female nurse pushing senior man on wheelchair at hospital corridor

Six SD nursing homes are among nation’s worst-rated

BY: - August 13, 2023

Six of South Dakota’s 98 nursing homes are on a federal list of the nation’s worst-rated care facilities. Five of the facilities are eligible for a special program to improve quality of care through increased regulatory oversight, and the other one is already in the program. The five eligible South Dakota facilities as of the […]

Activists gather in Washington, D.C., to call on Medicare to cover two Alzheimer's drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration. (Courtesy of Alzheimer's Association of South Dakota)

Medicare denial for Alzheimer’s drugs sparks push for congressional action

BY: - May 7, 2023

Deaths from Alzheimer’s disease jumped 177% in South Dakota between 2000 and 2019, and the state’s mortality rate is higher than the national average. Those are some of the reasons Jon Carroll went to Washington, D.C., recently to decry an action by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The agency decided that Medicare […]