<home>

WIN ONE...

Advocates for nursing home reform won one last week with the passage of HB 121 by the House Health and Welfare Committee. It is a measure that Kentuckians For Nursing Home Reform enthusiastically supports. The bill, introduced by Rep. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, would force all nursing homes without a sprinkler system to notify people applying for admission to their facility. It is a clever move by Rep. Westrom. Who in their right mind would want a loved one in a nursing home without adequate fire protection? Legislation to force all nursing homes to install sprinkler systems is bogged down at the federal level. All the feds could come up with was, "Buy smoke detectors." There are more than 3,500 nursing homes nationally, most of them old, that do not have a fire prevention sprinkler system. In Kentucky, as far as we know, there are six nursing homes without sprinklers and 16 that are only partially sprinkled. Rep. Westrom’s bill could well serve as a model for correcting the problem in other states. This bill now must be passed on the House floor and then make its way through the Senate. No opposition from the nursing home industry has been noted.

LOSE ONE...

When the U.S. House of Representatives passed the budget bill by the narrow margin of two votes – 216-214 – it was a loss for nursing home advocates for reform. On a national level, reform advocates lobbied hard to defeat the bill because of the new Medicaid provisions in it. The most controversial of them, what is called the "look-back" provision, extends the waiting time between when Medicaid is applied for and a gift of assets to friends or families from three years to five years. The provision, which some advocates actually supported, does have a number of loopholes in it. The Kentucky delegation in the House voted for the measure along party lines – all five of the Republican representatives for and the lone Democrat, Ben Chandler, against.

LATE ENTRY...

Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, introduced another bill last week that would cause a state worker to be fired if caught tipping off a nursing home that it was about to be inspected. This is SB 141. Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, had already introduced her measure on the subject, HB 371, which has harsher penalties -- making it a Class D. felony with a civil fine of $5,000.

We will give you a complete update of legislation we favor and do not favor in a week or so.

SAYS WE ARE WRONG...

Rep. John Vincent, R-Ashland, says we "incorrectly interpreted" his HB 177 when we wrote that we do not favor it. This is the bill on background checks in nursing homes for non-employees. It says that no person convicted of certain offenses can stay with a nursing home resident, except that anyone can visit a resident for two hours. That’s how we read it. See for yourself at http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/06RS/HB177.htm. Said Rep. Vincent: "You have HB 177 all wrong., Currently no background checks are required for ’volunteers’ and family paid sitters. This bill would require those checks. The two-hour threshold is to avoid legitimate visitors and clergy, not to create some window….." We would favor this bill if the two-hour provision were removed and if it required background checks on all employees. Right now it requires employee background checks on those who provide direct care such as nurses’ aides.

TIP OF THE ICEBERG...

Here is a short letter we sent to Gov. Ernie Fletcher after we found out he had visited Oakwood, the facility for adults with mental retardation. It is our belief that the problems there are caused mainly by that old bug-a-boo, shortage of front-line caregivers.

Here is the letter:

February 2, 2006

Gov. Fletcher,

We congratulate you on going to Somerset to see the Oakwood facility first hand. You should know, however, that Oakwood is only the tip of the iceberg.

We respectfully suggest that you also look into other long-term care facilities in our state which have violations.

More than 23,000 Kentuckians live in these facilities called nursing homes. We call the residents the "Forgotten Kentuckians" because nobody ever bothers to help them.

The big problem in most nursing homes is lack of sufficient staff. It sounds like Oakwood also has that problem.

Our organization is all about helping the "Forgotten Kentuckians" by reforming nursing home care. There’s lots to it.

Why don’t you contact us and find out more?

Sincerely,
Bernie Vonderheide
President & Founder

OMBUDSMEN FUNDED... SO FAR...

A state official has confirmed that all the nursing home ombudsmen in the state will be funded for full-time positions. That means that roughly every 2,000 nursing home residents will have an ombudsman. The money will again come from the Civil Monetary Penalty Fund. It wasn’t always that way, but to the credit of the last two administrations full-funding has been provided. However, it is still a long way until the budget is approved and things can change. There also is some talk about putting this full-funding into law so that it cannot be subject to change. We will let you know if someone files such a bill which we would favor.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING...

* About the state inspections: "Reports by the Government Accountability Office and the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, repeatedly find that states under-report deficiencies and too often fail to impose any remedies for the deficiencies that they cite. The studies show that the deficiencies cited in state survey reports, while valid, represent just the ‘tip of the iceberg.’" – From an article by Martha Deaver of the Arkansas Advocates For Nursing Home Reform.

* About the new Medicaid law: "It's incredibly punitive. What I see coming is that seniors will be forced to give away their money when they're young because they have no other choice." – Alice Retire Feld, president of the Academy of Florida Elder Law Attorneys, commenting in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel about the new "look-back" rules in the changes made by Congress in Medicaid.

* About cuts in Medicare: "Nursing home operators said it would be absurd to freeze their Medicare payments at a time when patients, their relatives and the Bush administration were demanding improvements in the quality of care. But the staff of the Medicare payment commission said current rates were "more than adequate." – From a Feb. 4 New York Times story on expected cuts in Medicare.

SHORT STUFF...

* Paul McNulty, a Virginia U.S. attorney, is President Bush’s choice for second in command as deputy attorney general. Mr. McNulty is the Virginia U.S. attorney who devised settlements for nursing homes and didn't seek civil penalties, and allegedly decided that the public didn't have a right to know about them.

* Beverly Health Care, which is being sold, has taken over the management of Stanford House nursing home in Stanford. This will make nine Beverly nursing homes in Kentucky. They currently are the second largest nursing home corporation in the nation.

* One of the reappointments to the Kentucky Board of Licensure for Nursing Home Administrators is on the administrative staff of a nursing home where there have been 21 complaints in the past three years with four of them on "quality of care."

* You are going to see this more and more, a new tactic by nursing homes. Christian Care Center in Lancaster has been leased to a new operator, Lancaster Medical Investors LLC. Tom Davis, the administrator, said, "Many nursing facility groups across the country are changing how they’re structured…." Owners of an LLC have the liability protection of a corporation. Members of an LLC are shielded from individual liability. On nursing homes, it’s all about catching the owners doing something wrong, and then they wiggle out of punishment.

* Something called the Americas Watchdog Corporate Whistleblower Center says a year-long study it did shows that nursing homes and rehab centers are taking advantage of loop holes in Medicare and Medicaid billing procedures that allow for widespread testing that should not have been done or was not needed. Another major result of the study, according to the Whistleblower Center, was the discovery of illegal workers who make up a very large percentage of all nursing home employees nationwide.

* According to a story in The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky has become the first state in the nation to require new nursing graduates to be paired with more experienced nurses, a development that could become a national model in reducing nurse turnover and improving patient care.

* Questions about Medicare Part D? Kentuckians should contact the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Atlanta. The computer address is
PartDComplaints_RO4@cms.hhs.gov.

DON’T FORGET….

MORE THAN 30,000 PEOPLE IN NURSING HOMES IN KENTUCKY NEED US. THEY ARE KENTUCKY’S FORGOTTEN PEOPLE.


Bernie Vonderheide
KENTUCKIANS FOR NURSING HOME REFORM
Tel: (859) 312-5617