None of us expected much in the way of news to come from Tuesday’s Congressional hearing featuring former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
More of the same ol’ salacious accusations, political blame and soundbites? Oh, yes, expected and delivered.
But amid the finger-pointing (Cuomo blames the Trump administration, Republicans blame Democratic governors, most everyone piles on nursing homes again), we did see some new movement that could help prevent similar calamities from happening again when the next pandemic begins.
There can be little doubt that the same uncertainty and disagreements between public health and elected leaders will emerge. What can’t happen again are the structural deficiencies in our public health system and inadequate preparations that made nursing homes sitting ducks given “deadly” directives such as Cuomo’s.
Nursing homes need the federal government to elevate their status and bring them in line with hospitals and other organizations who were given the tools and safety equipment they needed early during COVID.
Although unpopular, routine surveys can help do that by calling out lapses in care — but also spotting lapses in government and provider support for critical interventions, services and emergency planning.
The government, of course, must be willing to use surveys that way, to transform inspections from a punitive tool into something that can serve as a roadmap for public health improvements and provider and patient success.
Let’s hope that’s part of the plan envisioned by Rep. Paul Ruiz (D-CA), who defied expectations and actually made a newsworthy announcement amid Tuesday’s Cuomo madness.
Like Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) and President Biden before him, Ruiz wants to dedicate increased funding for nursing home surveys. A bill he introduced Tuesday would increase funding by 21%, which would likely assuage concerns from providers and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services about lagging inspections.
After about a decade of flat funding, we shouldn’t expect CMS or Ruiz will come out with a win on this bill.
But if they do, providers will no doubt beseech the agency to focus on driving quality improvements rather than juicing them for more financial penalties. Whatever happens, let’s forego the instinct to finance more finger-pointing. We get enough of that on Capitol Hill.
Kimberly Marselas is senior editor of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News.
Opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News columns are not necessarily those of McKnight’s.
