WTOP reported a class action lawsuit against the Maryland Department of Health for allowing 181 facilities to go more than 16 months without the annual inspection reports. The late reports show a pattern of abuse, neglect, and low-quality care for residents. The complaints and inspections left undone leave residents helpless to harmful abuse and neglect. One
Everyone thinks there is too much waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid programs. Skilled Nursing News had an article on Ned Lamont’s bill to solve the problem. The Governor of Connecticut proposed a bill that will authorize forensic audits to review operator annual financial reports conducted by the state Department of Social Justice. This proposal
A May Report from the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging “confirmed that nursing home inspection agencies are severely understaffed, noting that 32 state survey agencies report job vacancy rates of 20 percent or more.” The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) will search deeper into the surveys conducted
The General Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report on the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP), sharing findings from interviews with five selected state LTC Ombudsman Programs, the Administration for Community Living (ACL), and various stakeholders. The GAO reviewers also looked at ombudsman data from the National Ombudsman Reporting System for fiscal years 2019 – 2022.
A 14 News article by Caroline Klapp examined the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) scores for nursing homes, and how well they really assess the quality of a facility. Overall, it appears the CMS ratings are a useful tool to evaluate nursing homes, but their scores should not be taken to be infallible.
The Office of Inspector General has concerns about nursing homes reporting falls and other traumatic events. If a nursing home accepts Medicare or Medicaid (which the vast majority do), the operator is required to report resident falls in patient assessments. However, often this does not happen because preventable falls affects the Star rating for the