Oversight for nursing homes receives a failing grade

Finding a nursing home for your loved one is difficult – especially one which you can trust will care for him/her the way s/he deserves. The least you can expect is that the nursing homes are regulated – at least by the government – especially if Medicare/Medicaid is paying for a patient’s stay. However, according to the New York Times article, "Oversight of Nursing Homes Is Criticized," a new report has been released by Congressional investigators stating the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) "fails to hold homes with a long history of harming residents accountable for the poor care provided." The government can legally impose, for compliance problems, a stiff penalty of up to $10K/day taken from the Medicare/Medicaid reimbursements owed to the nursing homes. However, this authority is seldom used.

For example:
The report found "that a nursing home was still open even though it had repeatedly been cited for 'poor quality care,' poor nutrition services, medication errors and employing people who had been convicted of abusing patients."

How can this be?

Considering "about 1.5 million people live in the nation's 16,400 nursing homes on any given day, more than 3 million people receive nursing-home care at some point in the year [and] Medicaid and Medicare pay for more than two-thirds of patients," why is there such failure to hold these nursing homes accountable? Some argue that stiff penalities would cause the nursing homes to shut down. If the nursing homes are not providing the care they should be and abusing their patients, they should be shut down! Would you risk putting your loved one in a nursing home in that situation?

Neither would we.