Whistleblower Settlement The IndyStar reported on a $5.5 million settlement over allegations of false claims and Medicare fraud. American Senior Communities LLC (ASC) is a private company that operates dozens of nursing homes owned by Health & Hospital Corp. of Marion County. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Indiana announced the settlement.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution had an article about an archaic law in North Carolina. The 90 year old gave immunity to nurses. Fortunately, the North Carolina Supreme Court overturned that legal favoritism. The Court ruled nurses can be held liable by a jury when they harm patients. Even if they claim they were just following
Fierce Healthcare reported a well-known truth: Greed kills. Nursing homes owned and operated by vulture capitalists provide inadequate staff causing abuse and neglect of vulnerable adults nationwide. Residents at PE-acquired nursing homes also generate higher Medicare costs for more profit. Apologists claim that the industry needs private equity capital to operate facilities but that is
“The Linking Investors and Nursing Home Quality Act will ensure that there is transparency in who owns long-term care facilities, shed light on where taxpayer dollars are going, and ensure that nursing home residents and workers are protected.” –Rep. Jan Schakowsky said in a statement. The health news outlet STAT reported cagey nursing home corporate owners
REIT Ownership “There is concern that REIT ownership of healthcare facilities may divert capital away from investments in clinical care delivery toward generating high returns for investors instead.” –researcher Joseph Dov Bruch, Ph.D. REITs owned more than $3.5 trillion in U.S. assets last year, including the health sector. Harvard Medical School’s Department of Health Care
Transparency = Accountability Everyone agrees of the significance of safe staffing levels on quality of care, and the prevention of abuse and neglect. However, the financial practices of for-profit NHs result in the failure to fund adequate and appropriate staffing. For-profit ownership is strongly associated with failing to meet safe staffing minimums. Insufficient staffing leads