Now You Can See More Data Before Choosing a Nursing Home
Entrusted Legacy Law
Feb 17, 2023
Pennsylvania - Greater Pittsburgh Area
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For families seeking nursing home care for a loved one, getting information on what a nursing home is truly like or who owns it is easier said than done. Many rely on word of mouth, referrals, or recommendations. Others must depend on their gut instincts and site visits as part of their decision-making process.
Family members often find themselves playing detective or hoping for the best. Much of this is because little information has been made available to the public. However, recent events show this is changing.
New Efforts to Increase Transparency
State and federal governments recognize the lack of transparency or data available to ordinary people regarding nursing homes. Some are taking action to try to change this. In September 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will provide a way for users to search for data regarding who owns a nursing home.
Similarly, Medicare provides an online tool that allows you to find nursing homes in your area and compare them against others. States such as New York have also set up sites for visitors to compare the quality of care, quality of life, safety, preventative care practices, and inspection and complaint information of nursing home facilities.
There are limits to the data available. For example, the data on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services regarding ownership is self-reported. This means data on hundreds, if not thousands, of nursing homes is unavailable. In addition, untangling all this information and determining whether a nursing home is a good fit is not easy and may feel like a guessing game to some.
However, there is a consensus that more information must be made available to the public, and a proactive effort is underway. As the data banks grow, researchers will be able to identify facilities owned by companies with a history of poor performance within other facilities or that may have other troubles.
For example, in 2022, the Department of Justice charged the owner of the nursing home chain known as Skyline with failing to pay employment and unemployment taxes for more than 15,000 employees at 95 facilities in 11 states to the tune of a bill for $29.5 million owed to the IRS. The fallout was terrible for nursing home residents all over the U.S. who had to find new homes as staff were told there was no more money to pay them.
Hopefully, the search tools, once further developed, will allow viewers to see whether the nursing home they are considering is affiliated with troubled facilities they may have heard about.
What You Can Do Now
So, what can you do in the meantime? Checking out the above resources is an excellent first step. Another option is to look up your state’s portal for nursing home complaints. Many of these are online and have links to comparison tools and other resources.
Several public projects have also created a database of nursing home deficiencies cited by regulators and incidents of penalties, such as ProPublica’s Nursing Home Inspect.
Finally, consider seeing if the nursing home you have in mind is active in your local courts. They may frequently try to sue residents or guarantors for bills or be subject to elder abuse and malpractice complaints. Some court systems have online search systems that allow you to view the details of all filed cases online, while others may require a trip to the clerk’s office. This can be invaluable in giving you an idea of what the nursing home environment is like behind closed doors after all the paperwork is signed.
The best position to be in is to have as much information as possible. Whether it be through online searches or in-person visits, do as much research as possible. Find more answers to your nursing home questions on ElderLawAnswers.com.
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Elder Law 100 Pinewood Lane Suite #303, Warrendale, Pennsylvania, 15086Our Firm Prepares You for Life What makes our firm different is that we were built with the needs of growing families in mind. We understand you are BUSY, you are growing, you are planning for a life of prosperity and you value ease, convenience and efficiency. You are raising children, and caring for elderly parents, while also working hard to build your own nest egg for a lifetime of support. You want to know youve made the best decisions for your family and that your plan will work when your loved ones need it most. You want to make sure your minor children would be raised by the people you choose, and never by anyone you wouldnt want, and that your teens and adult children are properly prepared to care for you and what you leave behind. You want to feel confident that youve made the right choices, and handled everything so that you arent leaving behind a mess, when something happens. That is our focus as well. Weve developed unique systems to give you the same access to a Personal Family Lawyer as was previously only available to the super-wealthy, so you can have the guidance you need to build and maintain a life of prosperity and wealth. And, to keep your family out of court and out of conflict, which is the greatest risk to the people you love and all you have created, even if youve already worked with a traditional lawyer or created documents online. Our Team Is Here for You We encourage communication with our clients. In fact, weve thrown out the time clocks so you never have to be afraid to call with a quick question. Everything we do is billed on a flat-fee basis, agreed to in advance, so there are never any surprises. We have a whole team to serve you. When you call our office to ask your quick question, you wont have to wait hours or days for a phone call back. Youll get your question answered, right away. And, if you need to schedule a more in-depth legal or strategic call with your Personal Family Lawyer, a call will be scheduled when you're both available and ready for the call so we can make the very best use of your time and not waste your time by leaving voicemail after voicemail back and forth. And, we ensure the most important details of your planning are followed through on and your plan continues to work throughout your lifetime. We have a funding coordinator to ensure your assets are owned the right way throughout your lifetime and none of your assets will end up going through a long, expensive court process or being lost to the state because they were missed after your death. Weve created unique membership programs to keep your plan up to date year in and year out as well as give you access to our Trusted Team of Legal Experts for guidance on ANY legal or financial matter. One day you will need a lawyer. I dont know why and I dont know when, but when you do, you will be grateful you can call on us and well be here to advise you or get you out of a jam. We Help You Transfer Your Life and Legacy Lastly, we believe your financial wealth is only a small part of your overall Life and Legacy Planning which is made up of your far more valuable and most often lost upon incapacity or death intellectual, spiritual and human assets. These assets are what make you who you are, and sum up whats most important to you. And, a survey of inheritors has revealed that what they care about even more than inheriting your money, is inheriting these intangible assets. Most estate plans only focus on the transfer of your financial wealth to the next generation. Most people have such great intentions of passing on the intangible, but very few ever get around to it. Its just not a priority, until its too late. How much do you know about your grandparents values? Their most prized personal possessions? How they felt about you? What they had learned during their lifetime? If you are like most people, you know very little. Thats why we build the capture and passage of these most valuable assets into every estate plan we create. Not only will we help you pass on your money, but also your values, your insights, your stories and your experience the truly valuable assets your loved ones care about the most. Weve developed a tool that allows us to capture and pass on your whole family wealth, including your Intellectual, Spiritual and Human assets. I cant go into all of the details here, but well definitely talk about it when you come in for your Life and Legacy Planning Session.