For skilled nursing leaders, recent Medicare Advantage reform was supposed to help.

Over the last several years, CMS has issued major Medicare Advantage policy updates aimed at bringing plan behavior closer to traditional Medicare standards. The objective was to curb many of the practices providers know too well: excessive prior authorization barriers, inconsistent coverage decisions, and payment denials that disrupt care and strain operations.

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive long-term brain disorder affecting nearly 1 million people in the United States, with 50% also being affected by Parkinson’s disease psychosis. While the disorder typically presents in individuals in their mid-fifties, it can also affect people in their 30s and 40s. This can manifest as both motor and non-motor symptoms. Motor symptoms are changes associated with Parkinson’s disease that affect the movement of the body, while nonmotor symptoms are not related to movement.

Nonmotor symptoms can include reduced sense of smell, sleep disturbances, depression, dementia and psychosis. Motor symptoms can include tremors or uncontrolled shaking, slowed or limited body movements, body stiffness (Most often in the upper extremities and neck), and little to no facial expressions.