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KENTUCKIANS FOR NURSING HOME REFORM |
“A non-profit organization dedicated to the welfare of the “Forgotten Kentuckians” |
NURSING HOME REFORM NEWSLETTER
March 19, 2007 MARCH SADNESS... Well, we tried. Again. And again our legislation did not fare well. We had five bills that we helped originate in the 2007 legislature, but sadly none of them was successfully passed with the exception of one, House Bill 275, which still has a chance. Here’s a quick rundown: ** House Bill 275. Power of attorney abuse…… This bill prevents people from taking advantage of nursing home residents, and anyone else, by abusing the power of attorney. Rep. Robin Webb, D-Grayson, is the sponsor. Thanks to the hard work of one of our members, former state Supreme Court Judge Jim Keller, this bill made it through the House and the Senate Judiciary Committee. That committee reported it favorably to the floor of the Senate. But time ran out and the legislature adjourned until March 26 and 27 (veto days) when it might be brought up for passage. The next four bills were practically dead on arrival and did not even get a hearing in committee: ** HB 290…Adequate staffing…… Once again we asked the legislators to pass a bill that would make sure that nursing homes have at least the minimum number of front-line caregivers – the nurses’ aides-- to prevent injury, abuse and neglect. Rep. Carl Rollins II, D-Versailles, a freshman member of the legislature, sponsored the bill. He was able to get three co-sponsors: David Floyd, R-Bardstown (who interestingly enough owns an assisted living facility); Jeff Greer, D-Brandenburg; and Melvin Henley, R-Murray. ** SB 70…Surprise inspections…… We want to strengthen the law passed last year by ordering all nursing homes to have a sign in their lobby warning that anyone intentionally tipping off a facility about an upcoming state inspection will be subject to a federal fine of up to $2,000; and if it’s a state employee found guilty of the tip-off, he or she will be fired. Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, sponsored this bill. But his fellow Republican, Sen. Julie Denton of Louisville would not have the bill heard in her Senate Health & Welfare Committee. ** HB 463…The public’s right to know ….. This bill proposes that the state notify all the media in the county where a nursing home is located about the results of a state inspection. “Shining the light of day” on nursing home inspections will let the public know what kind of job nursing homes in their local area are doing and if there are serious problems. Rep. Jim Wayne, D-Louisville, was the sponsor. ** HB 151…Drug testing …… This is a bill that would mandate that applicants for any job in a nursing home must first pass a drug test. There are no provisions now for drug testing nursing home job applicants. Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, and chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee, is the sponsor. Funny that the committee chair would not have his own bill voted on in his committee????
WHAT HAPPENED? Why didn’t any of these good bills pass? There was a combination of reasons. This was what they call a “short session.” Shorter than the sessions in even numbered years. There was less time to move bills and many of the bills introduced just ran out of time to be heard in committees. That is probably what happened to Rep. Burch who didn’t hear his own bill in his committee. Another reason, always present for nursing home reform advocates: the industry lobbyists, lurking in the hallways to knock down any bill they deem unfavorable. Their big contributions to the governor for his reelection campaign and their generous contributions to legislators when they run for reelection make them formidable foes of a fledgling advocacy organization.
WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW? First of all, don’t give up. But if you have any time, call the legislative hotline and say, “I want to send a message to all the senators. Tell them to vote for passage of House Bill 275 when they come back on March 26 and 27.” The toll free Legislative Hotline number is 1-800-372-7181. Then, if you still have some time, call the same number and leave a message for all the legislators who sponsored our bills. They are listed above. Tell them, “We sure appreciate your sponsoring House Bill (or Senate Bill) – [then give its number] and we hope you will get behind this same legislation in 2008.” Don’t forget to thank the co-sponsors of the staffing bill, HB 290.
PROGRESS? Members of your board of directors have met with Deborah Anderson, the new commissioner of the state Department of Aging and Independent Living. The advocates shared with Ms. Anderson their concerns that nursing home reform was being overlooked by the state and shared with her a long list of issues. It was agreed that there would be a meeting to prioritize these issues for action and then meet regularly every quarter to measure progress. The regular meetings idea came out of strong advocate objection to leaving “long-term care” out of the new department’s name and mission. Advocates wanted the department to be called Aging, Independent Living and Long-Term Care. A last-minute amendment to change the name was even offered on the House floor by Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, but it was shot down. Advocates are now taking a wait-and-see posture on whether Ms. Anderson and her new department will indeed take up the needs of long-term care residents as presented by nursing home reform advocates. Stay tuned.
UK WINS ONE University of Kentucky hopes of building a continuing care community were apparently furthered by action in the 2007 legislature. A bill introduced by Rep. Bob Damron, D-Nicholasville, passed both chambers. Current law for allowing such construction was to expire in July 2008. But the new law will extend the time for establishing such facilities to December 2012 which should give UK time to find property on which to build the facilities. UK first announced it would build on the Spindletop property, but the Spindletop Club members fought the move and UK backed down. Now UK is looking for another place on which to build and the word is that is will soon announce finding such property on the south end of Fayette County near the Jessamine County line. The facility will be built and operated by the Praexis company of Florida and will contain independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing home care. Advocates for nursing home reform want the new facilities to be a demonstration project for UK research on long-term care issues.
WE DOUBLE DARE YOU, GUV... Gov./Dr. Ernie Fletcher has set up a Web site called the Health Care Information Center where supposedly you can get both performance and outcome (they like this word) information on the quality of care in Kentucky hospitals. But guess what? No indication that the Web site will give quality of care information on nursing homes. Wonder why? So we double dare you, governor, to start reporting the quality of care in nursing homes.
DOUBLE DARE THE INDUSTRY, TOO… Gov. Ernie Fletcher (item above) is going to report the quality of care in Kentucky hospitals. We double dare the industry to report the same thing for nursing homes, that is if you could trust what they would report. (You can’t now because it’s not audited.) First step for the industry would be to get behind the bill introduced by Rep. Jim Wayne, D-Louisville, in the almost-concluded 2007 session which would have the state report to the public through the media results of nursing home inspection. Double dare you, nursing home industry, to show off your “quality,” if there is any!
SHORT STUFF ** Remember Bruce Lunsford? He’s in the pack running for governor of Kentucky. Nursing home reform advocates remember him as the chief executive of Vencor, Inc. which owned nursing homes and went bankrupt in 1999. According to a story in The Courier-Journal, it all ended up in law suits by stockholders alleging that Mr. Lunsford and other executives misled them about the company’s wealth. Mr. Lunsford also was reported to have had problems with the quality of care in his nursing homes. In a television spot, Mr. Lunsford talks about how Vencor started with three employees and ballooned to 62,000 at its height in 1997. In the TV spot, he hints that health care will be the heart of his platform in 2007. ** Speaking of Vencor, the co-founder of the bankrupt company, Michael Barr, is named in a lawsuit against the also defunct HealthEssentials Solutions, Inc. The lawsuit claims the company systematically over-billed Medicare. Mr. Barr was the founder and former chief executive of HealthEssentials. ** At a Senior Day rally in Frankfort, Gov. Ernie Fletcher bragged about how he stopped an ugly practice in the previous administration of kicking people out of nursing homes. But no other nursing home issues were mentioned in the governor’s speech. The rally was sponsored by the state AARP organization that usually ignores quality-of-care issues in nursing homes and concentrates mainly on promoting independent living. AARP and Gov. Fletcher have adopted each other, it seems, for their mutual needs. AARP wants more members; and the governor wants to get re-elected. ** One of our members wintering in Florida sends along a clipping about a 33-year-old woman who has been named head of AARP in Florida. She succeeds a 77-year-old guy. They apparently wanted someone who could grow into her job, and she has plenty of time to do so. ** The winner of an achievement award from the Barren River Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, Martha Morgan, said that the ombudsman program needs more volunteer workers. “It’s a population we owe a debt of gratitude to,” she said. ** The National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform has changed its name to NCCNHR: The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care. The organization’s leadership apparently wants to broaden its scope to issues other than nursing home care, like assisted living. ** Speaking of NCCNHR (pronounced “Nick-ner”), they have joined up with the nursing home industry in promoting something called Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes. Only 20 percent of the nursing homes in Kentucky have signed up. Apparently 80 percent are not interested in advancing excellence, or improving the quality of care, for that matter.
LOW PAY IS A PROBLEMHere’s a letter we received that provides another viewpoint on staffing and poor pay in nursing homes: Dear Sir: One of the major reasons that nursing home staffing is a huge problem is due to the pay in most all departments. How would you like to work in a nursing home for nearly 21 years with an excellent personal work record and bring home about $308 per two-week pay period, after taxes and insurance? And the insurance that you have through your job at a nursing home leaves you in debt over $7,000 for one year? So you work another year for about $308 per two weeks to pay that off. How would you like it if after nearly 21 years you climb to a little over $8.00 per hour and see young new employees hire in at just under what you were being paid after all those years? How would you like it if your once a year hourly raise was 3% and your insurance payments rise $20 about the time your raise goes into effect. I have nearly 21 years in and make less now that I did 10 years ago to actually live on. If you push this staffing issue, our little 3% raise will surely be lost along with possibly a cut in my hours due to the hiring of cheaper staff. I could simply be replaced because it would be cheaper for the company......if this passes (referring to one of the staffing bills in Frankfort), there will be huge problems not even thought about for now. Our staffing problems are based on low pay. Unless you work in a nursing home I don't think you really know what goes on and the abuse that we take from residents and families. Many workers are getting out of it due to the fact we have no rights at all and must take everything tossed at us along with the cussing and low pay. It's better to have better paid regular staff that really cares than hire five more who don't care. I have an elderly mother and I know the difference between those who care and those who don't! Not only the nursing assistants are suffering from low pay …..the housekeeping staff and food service staff are very low paid and they work very hard! I cannot support this bill (on mandatory minimum staffing ratios) simply because we are suffering enough as it stands. Cuts will be made in other areas to pay for any more laws and regulations. I am going to talk to co-workers about this TODAY…. NAME WITHHELD Our answer: We must have sufficient staffing in nursing homes, and the way to get it is to pay a fair wage for the hard work that people like you do.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH “The system needs to change. They need to recognize that CNAs are the pivotal people because that’s where the care is all happening. CNAs need to be paid what they’re worth. They’re lowest on the economic ladder, and yet they are the ones doing the heavy hands-on work.” – Tipp Irwin, a California nursing home ombudsman.
"BE A SQUEAKY WHEEL" That's Eric Carlson's advice to nursing home residents and their family members in his new booklet, "20 Common Nursing Homes Problems -- and How to Resolve Them.” Carlson suggests "that residents and their families develop a healthy sense of entitlement to high-quality nursing home care." He doesn't recommend filing a lawsuit for every problem, but he does believe that residents should know their rights and use them to press nursing homes for the care they deserve. For example, residents generally can't be ordered out of a nursing home merely because their behavior -- wandering or even howling in the night -- becomes problematic. "These evictions almost always are improper," he writes, "because such residents belong in a nursing home." Carlson also notes that federal law gives residents the freedom to reject behavior-modifying drugs, feeding tubes and such restraints as seat belts and bed rails. And regardless of who's paying, he said in an interview last week, "a resident or family member shouldn't feel sheepish to ask that necessary therapy be provided or that a resident be allowed to sleep as long as she wants in the morning." Rita Schumacher, director of the ombudsman program that covers almost 11,000 nursing home beds in Northern Virginia, said she encounters unjustified discharges and the improper discontinuation of therapy, but "the number one issue is not enough staff in facilities." When visiting a home to which they might send a loved one, she said, family members should note "if residents are lined up in the hallway . . . don't look clean . . . if they have food on their clothing." These are possible signs of inadequate staffing, she said. Ms. Schumacher recommends reading the reports that state inspectors routinely file on nursing homes, either at her office or at the homes themselves. The actual report can be more informative than the synopsis posted on Medicare's "Nursing Home Care" Web site, she said. Carlson's booklet is available for sale at http://www.nsclc.org
MEMORIALIZE YOUR LOVED ONES KENTUCKIANS FOR NURSING HOME REFORM is now officially a non-profit organization. That means, for one thing, that any donations to the organization are tax deductible by the donor. With that in mind, we offer for your consideration the thought that memorials at the time of death of a loved one or friend could be in the form of donations to KENTUCKIANS FOR NURSING HOME REFORM, 1530 Nicholasville Road, Lexington, KY 40503. You will be helping the more than 23,000 Kentuckians who have no one to represent them.
NEWS NOTES…. We get tons of information that affect nursing home reform. We want to share this information with those of you who are interested, but rather than putting it all in our newsletter we will post it regularly on our web site: http://www.KyNursingHomeReform.org Go there now and see the following news stories and more …… The ‘Gray’ Market Judge refuses $29 million nursing home verdict Nursing homes wrestle with staffing
P.S. 9 Months Later? Jack decided to go
skiing with his buddy Bob. They loaded up in Jack's minivan and headed
north.
THAT’S IT FOR THIS TIME, BUT DON’T FORGET...
THAT’S
IT FOR THIS TIME, BUT DON’T FORGET...
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