Linking Investors and Nursing Home Quality Act

“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 such as Florida-based Consulate Health Care. Critics accuse the company of questionable tactics designed to minimize accountability or avoid responsibility for abuse and neglect. Skilled nursing facility owners create tangled and intertwined corporate governance structures that outwit bankruptcy courts and thwart victim’s claims.

The use of related entities and shell companies allow facilities to hide assets and cover-up profits. Federal regulators emphasize the need for transparency of nursing home ownership.

The Empire Center for Public Policy discovered that 72% of New York’s 394 for-profit nursing homes do business with companies that have common or overlapping ownership. Cash from for-profit nursing homes to related companies totaled over $1.1 billion, or 16% of their total expense for 2020. However, the nursing homes reported a 2.3% profit margin. It is really closer to 20%.

This type of “self-dealing” is common for the nursing home industry and creates gross profits for the owners at the expense of residents. Employment data show that for-profit nursing homes spend proportionally less on staffing than either not-for-profit or government-owned facilities. Profits over People.

The Biden administration increased payments to nursing homes by $904 million in the next fiscal year that starts this fall. Let’s make sure it goes to resident care and increased staffing and not the pockets of Wall Street vultures.