Voice For Quality long-term care

NCCNHR The national consumer voice for quality long-term care
1828 L Street, NW, Suite 801 Alison Hirschel, President
Washington, DC 20036 Alice H. Hedt, Executive Director
202 332-2275 Fax 202 332-2949
www.nccnhr.org
NCCNHR (formerly the National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform) is a nonprofit membership organization
founded in 1975 by Elma L. Holder to protect the rights, safety, and dignity of America’s long-term care residents.
Support the Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act!
Congress is considering the most important nursing home legislation in 20 years. Two of Congress’s leading supporters of nursing home reform, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Ranking Republican on the Finance Committee, and Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, Chairman of the Special Committee on Aging, have introduced S. 2641, the Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act. A companion bill is expected soon in the House of Representatives.
NCCNHR worked with congressional staff to develop the legislation, which would increase transparency of nursing home ownership, operations, staffing, and expenditures; improve the consumer complaint process; increase civil monetary penalties; and expand public information about nursing home quality, including penalties and staffing levels. Please inform your members, colleagues, friends, and nursing home residents and their families about the bill:
• Check the NCCNHR website (www.nccnhr.org) for information and updates.
• Download S. 2641 by clicking on [S.2641.IS].
Summary of major provisions in S. 2641
Transparency and accountability in the ownership and operations of nursing homes
Corporations would be required to disclose their owners, operators, financers, and other related parties. Facilities that were part of chains would be required to submit annual audits. Purchasers would have to demonstrate that they were financially able to run facilities.
Disclosure of how Medicare and Medicaid funds are spent
Providers would have to report wage and benefit expenditures for nursing staff on cost reports. Cost reports would be revised to categorize spending for direct care, such as nursing and therapies; indirect care, such as housekeeping and dietary services; capital costs, including buildings and land; and administrative costs, which often include the company’s profits.
Independent monitoring of chains
The federal government would develop a protocol for an independent monitor of chains to analyze their financial performance, management, expenditures, and nurse staffing levels. It would provide for corrective action and collection of civil monetary penalties.
Accurate information about nurse staffing
The government would collect data electronically from nursing homes on the number of RNs, LPNs, and nursing assistants, using payroll records and contracts with temporary agencies as the source. Data would include turnover and retention rates and hours of care per resident provided by each category of worker.
Better