COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Among Older Adults
JAMA Network
From September to November 2025, many European countries launched COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, when SARS-CoV-2 incidence was decreasing after a period of high circulation. These campaigns targeted specific groups, including older adults. This study used data from the Vaccine Effectiveness, Burden and Impact Studies primary care study, which recruited patients with acute respiratory infection who presented to a primary care physician 14 days or more after the start of seasonal COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, or Spain, and belonged to the older target group for vaccination. Read more.
Nursing Home Closures and Access to Long-Term Care
JAMA Network
There have been widespread concerns about the growing number of nursing home closures over the past decade, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because up-to-date estimates of nursing home closures are lacking, this study examined trends in nursing home closures, characterizing facilities that closed and assessing implications for access to care. Read more.
Backed by Threat of Clawbacks, Feds Wield Tight Grip on $50B Rural Health Fund
KFF Health News
Congressional Republicans created the Rural Health Transformation Program as a last-minute sweetener in their One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer. The funding was intended to offset concerns about the outsize fallout anticipated in rural communities from the law, which is expected to reduce Medicaid spending by more than $900 billion over a decade. But a threat of "clawbacks," or taking money back if states don't do what they promised in their applications, has made things challenging. Read more.
The New Managed Care Playbook: Networks, Nursing Home Data and Relentless Contract Management
Skilled Nursing News
Nursing home operators in the middle of their contracts with managed care payers have found that contract administration can be just as important as reimbursement rates. That means monitoring denials, tracking compliance, and aggressively pursuing appeals, while also thinking about the most influential advocacy efforts to keep MAOs honest. Read more.