Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Two senators have reintroduced legislation aimed at improving the quality of care in nursing homes.  The Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act,  reintroduced by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Herb Kohl (D-WI), would give consumers more information about the quality of care at nursing homes, provide the government with better tools to enforce high quality standards, and encourage nursing homes to improve on the care they provide, according to Trading Markets.

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How is it possible that it is only now becoming a requirement that nursing home facilities install life-saving sprinkler systems to help protect residents from fire? Up to this point, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) allowed older facilities that did not have these systems an exemption, allowing them to serve Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries despite the lack of this safety precaution. This week, the organization announced these facilities will have a five-year phase-in period, after which time they must have comprehensive sprinkler systems in place.

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A review of the nation’s nursing home inspection reports by the Congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO) lists Alabama among nine states with the worst records of nursing home inspection accuracy, saying inspectors missed serious problems in more than 25 percent of all inspections from 2002-2007. The report said most states still fared dismally, missing at least one serious deficiency in 15 percent of all inspections.

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