The federal government cannot agree on whether to increase or decrease regulatory burdens on nursing facilities. Yesterday, the United States House Committee on Ways and Means and the Subcommittee on Health wrote to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services urging further reduction of regulatory burdens on health systems, hospitals, and nursing homes. Tomorrow, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing examining federal efforts to ensure quality of care and resident safety in nursing homes.
The Ways and Means Committee’s letter noted that providers with post-acute care beds devote 8.1 full-time employees to compliance with regulatory requirements. Over half of those employees are clinical staff who could otherwise be caring for residents. The letter applauded recent efforts to reduce the regulatory burden and urged further reductions.
In contrast, the Committee on Energy and Commerce suggests that CMS isn’t doing enough to ensure quality care in the nation’s nursing homes. The Committee’s background report recites a number of news reports in which seniors died or were abused in nursing homes. Three witnesses have been invited to testify: Kate Goodrich, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of CMS; Ruth Ann Dorrill, Regional Inspector General, HHS OIG; and John Dicken, Director, Health Care GAO. Topics to be addressed include efforts made to ensure that nursing homes are meeting the federal regulatory standards and CMS’ oversight of state agencies that work with CMS to inspect nursing homes. The undertone of the Committee’s background report is that CMS needs to increase enforcement, including higher civil money penalties and exclusion from participation in federal health care programs.
It is hard to see how higher monetary penalties will improve quality care as it further reduces the resources available to care for residents.
