Editorial: Strengthen nursing home rules
Friday, Sept. 14, 2001 | 8:59 a.m.
The Bush administration obviously was embarrassed by revelations in the New York Times last week that it was planning to reduce nursing home inspections and ease penalties for infractions. The Times story cited confidential government documents and the Associated Press later confirmed "the essence of the plan" in an interview with spokesman Bill Pierce of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Hours after the Times article was published, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the proposals had been rejected. We hope that is the case, because nursing home regulations must be strengthened, not weakened. It is unthinkable that the administration would put into action some of the proposals exposed by the Times.
One proposal, for instance, would have reduced inspections of nursing homes that enjoyed good track records. The problem there is that nursing homes frequently change owners or administrators. Even Sen. Charles Grassley, senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, was quoted as saying, "Today's good nursing home might be tomorrow's poor-performing facility."
The Times also reported that the administration wanted to give the 17,000 nursing homes regulated by the government the ability to continue receiving Medicaid and Medicare payments if uncorrected violations of federal health and safety standards did not harm patients. That would have been a reversal of current regulations that stop payments to nursing homes if they remain out of compliance six months following an inspection.
An alarming national study released last month shows why we need to strengthen regulations to make nursing homes safer for residents. The study uncovered nearly 9,000 abuse violations from January 1999 to January 2001. There were 1,601 nursing homes during that period cited for putting residents in great risk of harm.
The picture is not so rosy in Nevada, where complaints of abuse of nursing home residents rose from 418 to 606 over the past three fiscal years. Granted, the state has improved its reporting system, which contributed to the increase in complaints. But this is not the appropriate time to reduce nursing home inspections and penalties.
archive
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- Tiger Woods allegedly linked to LV nightclub exec
- 6 charged in Metro officer’s death appear in NLV court
- Reports: Mayweather Jr. has agreed to fight Pacquiao
- Home prices cut in half in 12 valley ZIP codes over year
- Report: Investors buying up Las Vegas foreclosure homes
- No. 24 UNLV gutsy in 74-72 victory at Arizona
- M Resort notes improved business in recent months
- CityCenter unveils Crystals retail district
- Vdara exec predicts strong sales
- Las Vegas Sands analysts see signs of improvement
Blogs
Elsewhere
Harry Reid's recipe for getting health-care deal done (2 Comments)
UNLV in at No. 11 in SI's college hoops power rankings (2 Comments)
Top Chef: Las Vegas
Top Chef Episode 13: A few good chefs
Gray Matter
Fight weekend in Las Vegas and Thanksgiving (1 Comment)
Politics: Ralston's Flash
Consultant who knocked off Tom Daschle would love for Lowden to knock off Reid (10 Comments)
Gibbons: Timeline shows lawmakers (especially Marcus Conklin) at fault in unemployment insurance fiasco (1 Comment)
The Kats Report
Noteworthy: More from the Trop, Cher changes, Newton on 'CBS Sunday Morning' (2 Comments)
Calendar »
- 4 Fri
- 5 Sat
- 6 Sun
- 7 Mon
- 8 Tue
-
Ray Price at Boulder Station
Boulder Station Hotel and Casino | 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
-
Clay Walker at The Golden Nugget
Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino
-
Gloriana at LAX
LAX Nightclub | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
Brooks & Dunn at the Hilton
Las Vegas Hilton
-
Bill Engvall at the Treasure Island Theatre
Treasure Island Theatre
-
Ron White performs at the Mirage
Terry Fator Theatre
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Technorati










