ILLINOIS — A new law requires nursing homes to submit change of ownership plans that clearly delineate how the buyer will ensure consistent staffing throughout the transition.
Provider groups and investors around the country will be closely watching to see how the law will affect building operations, and if it helps maintain or improve quality, as envisioned by state officials. It is the latest in a coast-to-coast trend of states adding new layers or players to the nursing home sales process.
“There was tremendous pressure from the administration and [consumer] advocates on it,” said Matt Hartman, president and CEO of the Illinois Health Care Association. “We were in a position of having to try to negotiate to make it as amenable as possible for providers.”
Hartman said the association eliminated several provisions in Senate Bill 3115 that could have been harmful to facilities, including quadrupled fines. The association also negotiated for simplified care plans and clarification of liability on the part of either the original owner or the acquiring party.
Sweeping LTC reforms pass Senate
MASSACHUSETTS — Lawmakers approved a slate of sweeping reforms for senior care facilities under which skilled nursing providers would see pay rates increase, but the provisions still leave a $300 million Medicare payment shortfall, the head of the state’s largest long-term care provider group said.
The legislation creates more guardrails for facility ownership transfers, requiring the Department of Public Health to review financial and legal information from potential new owners and management companies before granting operating licenses.
“While we support many of these provisions and have been advocating for these types of reforms, we are concerned that the Commonwealth continues to severely underfund nursing facility care by $47 per resident per day, totaling more than $300 million annually, according to the federal government,” Massachusetts Senior Care President Tara Gregorio told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News.
The most recent version of the legislation passed 39-0 in the state Senate. Negotiators were working to reconcile House and Senate versions before sending a final bill to Gov. Maura Healey (D) for approval.
The Senate’s bill requires insurers to OK admissions requests from hospitals to long-term care facilities within 24 hours and waive approvals on weekends. It also directs the state Department of Public Health to work with the LTC sector to develop and implement best practices for training and education programs based on commonly cited deficiencies. In addition, the bill creates a Long-Term Workforce and Capital Fund for new CNAs, a CNA-to-LPN pathway, and supervisory training for clinicians.
Top court rejects nursing home privilege
NEW JERSEY — Internal investigative documents used to help providers learn from errors and accidents can’t be held back from trial attorneys if they’re also used for other purposes, New Jersey’s top court ruled in August.
The decision reverses a lower court finding from 2023 that had protected such self-critical documentation from discovery under the state’s robust Patient Safety Act. That law is meant to support reflective processes that can help all kinds of healthcare providers improve quality and build in new or better safeguards.
But the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling in two consolidated cases found that a CareOne nursing home and assisted living community had invalidated the protection by sharing self-critical documentation outside of its safety committee to help meet federal requirements.
Independence is a “precondition to applying the PSA’s privilege,” Justice Fabiana Pierre-Louis wrote. “The regulation directs that the ‘patient or resident safety committee shall not constitute a subcommittee of any other committee within a facility or healthcare system.’”
Attorneys have warned that allowing plaintiffs more access to previously protected documentation could have a chilling effect on staff willingness to self-report errors or providers’ ability to conduct robust internal investigations.
The documents in question can now be shared with the plaintiffs’ attorneys, potentially sharpening the cases against CareOne.The company declined to comment on the litigation “as a matter of policy.”
‘Gotcha’ inspections touted by governor
MONTANA — Eleven long-term care facilities in New Mexico obtained a perfect score and 23 more missed a perfect score by one mark during surprise state inspections announced July 31. In all, 66 of the 91 facilities scored 90% or better, officials said. Another 11 registered 80% or higher.
Nonetheless, results announced by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) highlighted that 88% of the facilities visited had at least one violation in the 36-question inspection and four had failed.
The head of the New Mexico Health Care Association said the inspections and splashy results release, which received wide media attention, felt like a “gotcha” moment.
“We’ve more than put our best foot forward to engage the state in a collaborative way,” said association President Vicente Vargas. “But this feels like a ‘gotcha.’ That starts to undo a lot of the good faith that’s been created between providers and the state.”
From the September 2024 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
