New rule protects nursing homes and promotes secrecy
The Washington Post had an article about the Bush administration's rule to stop a source of information about abuse and neglect in long-term care facilities that are crucial to finding answers.
The rule designates state inspectors and Medicare and Medicaid contractors as federal employees, a group usually shielded from providing evidence for either side in private litigation. The new rule, which was issued in September, generally prohibits state health departments and contractors from participating in private lawsuits involving facilities that are in the federal assistance program without approval by the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The restrictions affect about 16,000 nursing facilities and 3 million residents in the United States. The practical effect is to force families to go to greater lengths, including seeking court orders, to get inspection reports or depositions for cases they are pursuing.
The change, which affects the $144 billion nursing-home industry, was enacted with no public notice or attention.
"This change hurts nursing-home residents and their families by allowing bad practices to be kept in secret by nursing homes and inspectors," said Eric M. Carlson, an attorney with the National Senior Citizens Law Center in Los Angeles. "Government inspectors have the right to go into nursing homes and investigate, and they learn things that residents and families otherwise could never find out."
The effect of the directives has started to play out in the nation's courtrooms. Requests for information, once fairly routine, now are stalled between state and federal officials.
