Too little is being done to combat nursing home neglect in Indiana. Here is a startling fact: the nursing home industry in Indiana (though quite profitable), holds the dubious distinction of providing the worst care in the United States. According to the U.S. Office of Accountability, Indiana has more ‘poor performing’ nursing homes than any other state in the U.S. Astonishingly, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) found that upon inspection, just 57 of Indiana’s 500-plus nursing homes were without deficiencies.
Other states have taken steps to address the problem of nursing home neglect, abuse, and fraud. For example, as reported by the Lexington Herald Leader, federal prosecutors in Kentucky have asked for help from other officials in prosecuting nursing homes that provide substandard or life-threatening care to residents. The article reports:
[important title=””]“It’s important that we ensure that nursing home residents receive the proper care they deserve and many long-term care providers render high-quality services,” Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, said in a statement.
The two prosecutors asked law enforcement officers, state regulators and private insurance investigators to help them battle health care fraud at a Frankfort task force meeting that was closed to the public.”
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“In cases of abuse and neglect at nursing homes, “we intend to bring all available resources to bear to remedy circumstances in which there is a systematic failure to render adequate care,” Harvey said in a statement after the meeting.“[/important]
[important title=””]”In addition to pursuing criminal charges, federal prosecutors in other parts of the country are increasingly filing civil lawsuits called “failure to care” cases against nursing homes and are seeking financial penalties, the prosecutors told officials.”
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“Our preference would be that there would never be a necessity to bring a claim like this,” Harvey said in an interview. “But it is another tool that’s available in an effort to ensure that residents receive adequate care. It will be used in appropriate cases.”[/important]
Most nursing homes derive the bulk of their revenue from Medicaid/Medicare payments, and in return promise to provide nursing care that meets federal and state regulatory standards. However, too often the nursing homes fail to staff their facilities with the proper number of adequately trained, and properly supervised caregivers. As a result, the patients do not receive care that is adequate, and which the nursing home corporations promised to provide in exchange for receiving the taxpayer funds through the Medicare/Medicaid payments. This is nothing short of patient neglect and taxpayer fraud. Its about time the Indiana nursing home industry be held accountable.
If you or your loved one is a current or former resident of an Indiana nursing home and you have questions about nursing home abuse or neglect, you can contact the sponsor of this site, an experienced nursing home abuse and neglect lawyer, for a free consultation..Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2011/03/08/1662820/federal-prosecutors-ask-for-help.html#ixzz1G44U7KTi