Toomey, Casey propose bill to increase oversight, resources at nursing homes

Nov. 19--Bucking the stereotypical lack of bipartisan cooperation in federal politics, U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey were exploring weaknesses in the country's nursing homes long before the coronavirus pandemic, commissioning a June 2019 report examining their federal oversight.

This week, they announced a bipartisan bill that aims to enhance accountability among the nation's poorest-performing nursing homes.

"Since the first outbreak of covid-19 at a nursing facility in February, more than 94,000 residents and workers in nursing homes and long-term care facilities have died from the virus," Casey said. "We have an imperative to help nursing home residents and workers amid this public health crisis, and we must also improve care quality in nursing facilities -- especially those that have a consistent pattern of failing safety and care standards."

Two of every three Pennsylvanians to die from covid-19 have been residents of nursing homes or other long-term care facilities.

"Unfortunately, some of the largest outbreaks occurred in facilities with records of persistent failure to protect their residents," Toomey said.

Those facilities are classified as federal Special Focus Facilities, or SFFs, and they operate with increased oversight and more-frequent inspections, due to their substantial failure to meet the standard of care required by the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Among the list of 16 current SFFs and SFF candidates in Pennsylvania, six have seen positive covid-19 diagnoses in more than 50 residents. They include Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in Beaver County, the site of more than 300 resident infections and more than 70 deaths.

Nationally, the U.S. recently set a record for new weekly cases in nursing homes, according to the American Health Care Association (AHCA) and the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) -- more than 10,000 nursing-home residents or staff members have received a positive covid result during the first week of November.

That trend mirrors the recent uptick in general community spread, according to data released Tuesday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

"Our worst fears have come true. As covid has run rampant across the country, nursing homes have become powerless to keep it from entering our buildings," said AHCA/NCAL President Mark Parkinson. "As long as people are irresponsibly acting in the general public, we just can't stop it."

After seven weeks of declining cases in nursing homes through mid-September, new weekly cases grew 73% nationwide between mid-September and the week of Nov. 1, AHCA officials said.

Casey and Toomey proposed the Nursing Home Reform Modernization Act of 2020 (S. 4688) in late October, which would identify and increase transparency around nursing homes with a history of serious quality issues, ensure they receive more frequent inspections, increase educational resources for all under-performing facilities and establish an independent Advisory Council to inform the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on how best to foster quality improvements.

"This new bipartisan legislation will provide greater oversight and resources to systemically under-performing nursing homes, "Toomey said. "The Senate should pass this bill without delay."

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, Parkinson urged the public to recognize that protecting themselves and each other creates a ripple effect that makes it easier to protect more-vulnerable members of the population.

"The public must realize that their actions not only endanger our nation's most vulnerable, but also trigger government lock-downs of facilities, keeping these residents from their loved ones," he said.

Click here to read the full text of S. 4866.

Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick at 724-850-2862, pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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