National Academy of Science Calls for Bold Reform of Nursing Home Care

On April 6, 2022, the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Committee on the Quality of Care in Nursing Homes released a 605 page report – The National Imperative to Improve Nursing Home Quality; Honoring Our Commitment to Residents, Families and Staff – that is meant to be a blueprint for desperately needed reform of nursing home care.

State Auditor Blasts California Department of Public Health for Enabling Large-Scale Hospice Fraud, Abuse and Neglect

A scathing March 29, 2022 report by Michael Tilden, Acting California State Auditor, charged that the California Department of Public Health “essentially enabled hospice agency operators who are possibly fraudulent to continue functioning, putting patients at serious risk of not receiving appropriate care.” The long-awaited report opens with a letter to the governor and legislative leaders that states: “Indicators strongly suggest that a network or networks of individual perpetrators in Los Angeles County are engaging in a large and organized effort to defraud the Medicare and Medi-Cal hospice programs.

April 2022

In this Issue

White House Announces Reform Plan to Crack Down on Nursing Home Bad Actors

On February 28, 2022, the White House announced plans for far-reaching reforms to improve the safety and quality of nursing home care, establish and enforce a federal minimum staffing requirement, fight inappropriate drugging of residents, strengthen emergency preparedness standards, integrate pandemic lessons into requirements, hold poor performing nursing homes and chains accountable, and improve public information on nursing home ownership and quality.  The bold statement took direct aim at the nursing home industry, acknowledging widespread failures by nursing homes to comply with federal standards and the need “to crack down on bad actors.” Decisive action is needed now, it states, or unacceptable conditions may get worse.  CANHR applauds the Biden Administration for standing up so strongly for nursing home residents and is excited to work with it to make a real difference in residents’ lives.

Did You Know… Medi-Cal Discrimination & Room-to-Room Transfers

If a nursing home resident changes to Medi-Cal payment status, the nursing home is prohibited from transferring the resident to another room as a result of that payment change, with the exception of transferring the resident from a private room to a semi-private room.