Consumers Respond to National Efforts to Weaken Nursing Home Accountability

As a member of the Coalition for Quality Care (CQC), a national organization of consumer advocacy groups, LTCCC has been involved in efforts to provide a national consumer response to legislation and other policy efforts to weaken nursing home oversight and degrade accountability of providers when they fail to meet minimum standards. Following are recent "highlights":

H.R.6074 -- Enhancing Quality through Survey System Improvements Act of 2010

This bill, introduced by Rep. Stupak of Michigan in July 2010, contains several provisions that would, in effect, relax standards, oversight and accountability for the nursing home industry. Provisions include a radically reduction in the frequency of nursing home inspections for some nursing homes, a change in the use of Civil Money Penalties (now required to be used to protect and benefit residents) and a requirement that inspection reports - which studies have shown often fail to adequately capture the extent of resident abuse and neglect - " must include all the positive aspects of care and facility life as well as the aspects of care that may need improvement." CLICK HERE to read consumers' response to Rep. Stupak.

S.3407 - Improving the Quality of Care in Nursing Homes Act of 2010

Introduced by Sen. Feingold in May 2010, this bill calls upon the Institute of Medicine to conduct a major new assessment of our nursing home oversight system. From a consumer perspective, we believe that the problem with this bill is that it tailors the proposed assessment to address the industry's long-held desire to undermine the extent to which it is held accountable for meeting basic standards. For instance, it would require that the Institute of Medicine assess whether the sytem allows stakeholders to "engage in innovative ways" to improve quality and whether the current system promotes and encourages "systemic organizational change" that might lead to quality improvement. As nursing home residents and their loved ones know, the basic standards for care and quality of life guaranteed to every nursing home resident in the country are rarely attained. Inconsistencies in enforcement are generally the result of problems being missed or underrated in terms of their impact on vulnerable residents because, in fact, the nursing home quality oversight system has never been fully implemented. CLICK HERE to read consumers' response to Sen. Feingold.