Nursing Home Report Reveals Disturbing Data

Nursing homes care for the elderly and disabled, some of the most vulnerable persons in society. But, a recent report has disturbing news. More than 90 percent of nursing homes were cited for violations of federal health and safety standards last year according to a report issued by the federal government. For-profit nursing homes were more likely to have problems than other types of nursing homes.
The report revealed that about 17 percent of nursing homes had deficiencies that caused actual harm or immediate jeopardy to patients. Problems included infected bedsores, medication mix-ups, poor nutrition and abuse and neglect of patients.
Inspectors received 37,150 complaints about conditions in nursing homes last year, and they substantiated 39 percent of them.. About one-fifth of the complaints verified by federal and state authorities involved the abuse or neglect of patients.
The report disclosed that 94 percent of for-profit nursing homes were cited for deficiencies last year, compared with 88 percent of nonprofit homes and 91 percent of government homes.
According to the report, investigators found cases in which nursing homes billed Medicare and Medicaid for services that were not provided, or were so wholly deficient that they amounted to no care at all.
More than 1.5 million people live in the nation’s 15,000 nursing homes. The homes are typically inspected once a year and must meet federal standards as a condition of participating in Medicaid and Medicare, which cover more than two-thirds of their residents, at a cost of more than $75 billion a year.
Deficiency rates varied widely among states. The proportion of nursing homes cited for deficiencies ranged from 76 percent in Rhode Island to 100 percent in Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming and the District of Columbia.