Page 2 - ARUBA TODAY

A2 UP FRONT
Tuesday 4 June 2019
Long list of troubled nursing homes revealed by senators

By RICARDO ALONSO- dates.
ZALDIVAR She said federal budget
WASHINGTON (AP) — The cuts in 2014 reduced the
federal government for number of available slots.
years has kept under wraps Verma said her agency
the names of hundreds of is evaluating whether it
nursing homes around the can publicly release the
country found by inspec- list of "candidate" nursing
tors to have serious ongo- homes. The Trump adminis-
ing health, safety or sani- tration has asked Congress
tary problems. for more money for health
Nearly 400 facilities na- care inspections, but the fi-
tionwide had a "persistent nal amount and how it will
record of poor care" as of distributed remain unclear.
April, but they were not in- In a statement, CMS said
cluded along with a shorter its starred ratings on the
list of homes that get in- Nursing Home Compare
creased federal scrutiny website are already the
and do have warning la- best yardstick "for consum-
bels, according to a Sen- ers to understand and use."
ate report released Mon- About 2,900 nursing homes
day. have the lowest one-star
Budget cuts appear to be In this Oct. 2, 2018, file photo, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., speaks during a television news interview overall rating.
contributing to the prob- on Capitol Hill in Washington. But consumer groups
lem by reducing money Associated Press say such ratings are not
available for the focused enough, and greater dis-
inspections that are re- are not disclosed while oth- basis," said Sen. Bob Casey, shaped like a small yellow closure is overdue.
quired for nursing homes on ers are publicly identified, D-Pa., who along with Sen. triangle that resembles a "It might help (consum-
the shorter list, according to according to two senators Pat Toomey, R-Pa., issued traffic "caution" sign. The ers) avoid facilities that the
documents and interviews. who released the report on the report . website does not display government is acknowl-
The secrecy undermines the Monday. "When a family makes the starred quality ratings for edging are very, very trou-
federal commitment to en- "We've got to make sure hard decision to seek nurs- the special focus facilities. bled," said Toby Edelman,
sure transparency for fami- any family member or any ing home services for a Usually, nursing homes re- a senior policy lawyer with
lies struggling to find nursing potential resident of a nurs- loved one, they deserve to ceive from a low of one star the nonprofit Center for
homes for loved ones and ing home can get this in- know if a facility under con- to the highest quality score Medicare Advocacy.
raises questions about why formation, not only ahead sideration suffers from sys- of five stars. A nursing home indus-
the names of some homes of time but on an ongoing temic shortcomings," said The nearly 400 facilities try group says it gener-
Toomey. that are candidates for the ally supports transparency
The senators released a shorter list "qualify for the and takes no position on
list provided them by the program because they are release of the list. David
Centers for Medicare and identified as having a 'per- Gifford, vice president for
Medicaid Services, or CMS, sistent record of poor care' quality with the American
of nursing homes with doc- but are not selected for Health Care Association,
umented problems whose participation as a result of said the inspection reports
names were not publicly limited resources at (CMS)," on which the CMS lists are
disclosed by the govern- said the report from Casey based are only one mea-
ment. and Toomey. sure, and people should
About 1.3 million Ameri- "Despite being indistin- also consider other factors
cans are nursing home guishable from (special fo- such as staffing levels and
residents, cared for in more cus nursing homes) in terms clinical outcomes.
than 15,700 facilities. The of their qualifications, can- Monday's report from Sens.
senators' report noted that didates are not publicly dis- Casey and Toomey identi-
problem nursing homes on closed," the report added. fied several nursing homes
both lists account for about In a letter last month to from the list of special focus
3 percent. Casey, CMS Administrator candidates. Among the
CMS does publicly disclose Seema Verma singled out details:
names of a smaller group federal budget problems — In Quitman, Texas, the
of about 80 nursing homes as a factor. Heritage Healthcare Resi-
that are getting special "The total number of (spe- dence did not prevent the
scrutiny to help them re- cial focus) slots and total septic system from backing
solve documented quality number of (special focus) up, causing a foul-smelling
problems. They're in what's candidates nationally are black substance to come
called the Special Focus based on the availability through the drains and
Facility program. Nursing of federal resources," Ver- seep into the kitchen floor
homes that don't improve ma wrote. She added that near food-preparation ar-
can be cut off by Medi- as recently as 2010, there eas. In an interview, offi-
care and Medicaid. was room for 167 nursing cials of the company that
Consumers can identify homes in the special focus currently owns the nursing
special focus facilities on program and 835 candi- home said they had cor-
the government's Nurs- dates. That's now down to rected all the problems af-
ing Home Compare web- as many as 88 special focus ter purchasing the facility in
site by looking for an icon slots and up to 440 candi- February. q