Editorial Staff

How did COVID impact Massachusetts’ long-term care facilities?

/in , , , , , , , , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

In April 2021, the Department of Public Health (DPH) removed from the COVID-19 Response Reporting Dashboard its former count of long-term care deaths, which was then greater than 9,000 – more than half of all reported COVID deaths at that time.  In place of the count of long-term care deaths was a vague reference to various separate reports, one of which contained a total number of eldercare deaths that was thousands lower than the previously displayed number.  

Pioneer reported this abrupt and substantial change in its May 2021 white paper, “A Brighter Dashboard: State Should Cut Confusion and Clarify Eldercare Cases and Deaths.”  The paper asked, understandably, for a clear explanation:  What counting methodology produced the 9,000-plus figure?  And, if thousands of those deaths are no longer considered long-term care deaths, what are representative examples of such deaths? Addressing this question would help the public understand what was removed from the former total.

Pioneer pressed the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and DPH for such an explanation orally in virtual meetings and in writing through 2021, and was unsuccessful in those efforts.  Subsequently, Pioneer has filed this Public Records Act request.  How COVID impacted Massachusetts’ long-term care facilities is a matter of obvious importance, both on principle (the public has a right to know the facts), and for purposes of evaluating – and where possible improving – public policy.  The state’s amendment of its long-term care death count may have been appropriate – but the public has the right to evaluate that question, and cannot do so absent a better explanation of what happened and why.

Read Public Records Request

Get Our COVID-19 News, Tips & Resources!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Related Content:

Pioneer Institute: 340B Hospitals Does Not Necessarily Translate to Charity Care

Review of Becker’s List of Health Systems with Strong Finances…

How Public Transportation’s Efficiency Changed During Covid

The MBTA's efficiency plummeted during Covid; as people chose either personal transportation or personal work, the MBTA lost significant ridership. However, it maintained its vehicle fleet and the depth of its services even as its operating cost per passenger mile increased dramatically.

New Online Tool Tracks MA Hospital Revenue from Commercial Sources

A new online tool from Pioneer Institute shows a gradual increase in non-commercial (public payer) revenue at Massachusetts hospitals and also reveals a strong relationship between the hospitals with the highest commercial revenue and those with the highest relative prices.

Study: Massachusetts Should Join 45 States and Allow Prescribers to Dispense Medications

A Pioneer Institute study shows that middlemen—commercial pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers—add substantial costs over wholesale prices. Allowing prescribers to dispense routine drugs would save consumers money without compromising safety.

As COVID-19 Emergencies Ease, Some Progress on Telehealth Rules

A new report from Reason Foundation, Cicero Institute and Pioneer Institute rates every state’s telehealth policy for patient access and ease of providing virtual care. The report highlights telehealth policy best practices for states.

Survey Finds Spotty Compliance Among Hospitals with Federal Price Transparency Law

A 2019 federal law requires hospitals to make prices for 300 shoppable services available online in a “consumer-friendly format,” but a Pioneer Institute survey of 19 hospitals finds that information on discounted cash prices—the price most likely to be charged to consumers paying out of pocket—was unavailable at seven of those hospitals.

Pandemic Dead Reckoning: Unseen Casualties of Public Health Interventions

Hubwonk host Host Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute’s Senior Fellow Dr. Bill Smith about new evidence that during the past two years of the pandemic, there were as many unseen excess deaths from non-Covid-related diseases as seen from Covid. They discuss the need for public health leaders to pivot their messaging to address this hidden mortality.

Why the jump in non-COVID deaths?

The Wall Street Journal echoes our warning about the rise of non-COVID-related deaths.