News Tagged ‘nursing home industry’

Tennessee nursing homes lobby for caps on damage claims

Tennessee nursing homes are lobbying the legislature to put a cap on the amount of damages that plaintiffs can collect in court, according to a report in Nashville, Tennessee’s The City Paper. Sixteen states, including Tennessee, do not put monetary limit for damages such as pain and suffering, which has resulted in millions of dollars in damages awarded to victims for ‘ violations of patient care. The nursing home industry says without damage limits, in those states become a target for out-of-state trial lawyers.

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Florida Medicaid recipients want to choose where to live

Nearly 8,500 Florida Medicaid recipients have filed a federal lawsuit seeking class action status for forcing them to live in instead of where they choose, according to the Associated Press/Miami Herald. The lawsuit names the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s office.

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U.S. Senate debates arbitration

A joint meeting of the U.S. Senate Committee on Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition and Consumer Rights and U.S. Senate Aging Committee was held this morning to discuss S. 2838, The Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act, sponsored by Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, and Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla. The bill’s sponsors argued that more facilities are requiring patients and their families to sign mandatory arbitration agreements, signing away their right to sue in the event of or , which they said is unfair.

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