Thousands of elderly Americans are beaten, underfed, or neglected in nursing homes around the country every year. But until now, neither they, nor their families, could sue for redress.
They gave up that right when they signed a stack of paperwork that included a clause that would force them into arbitration—which is private, confidential, and often favors the facility—should a dispute arise.
A new rule issued by the Department of Health and Human Services prohibits binding arbitration clauses in any long-term care facility that accepts Medicare or Medicaid. Now, consumers have the option to file a lawsuit.
“It prevents nursing facilities from taking advantage of people on the front end and having them sign things when they’re thinking about everything other than arbitration,” said Eric Carlson, directing attorney for Justice in Aging, a nonprofit that fights senior poverty through law.
Nursing facility admission agreements are often more than 30 pages long with all the added attachments, Carlson said.
“When someone’s entering a nursing facility, they’ve got enough to worry about,” he said.
The new rule is part of a larger revamp of consumer protections by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which goes into effect on Nov. 28. It impacts admissions agreements going forward; current agreements will stand.
Better Care
More than 1.35 million people were living in nursing homes in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The new rule will result in improved care at nursing facilities and increased transparency, says Charles Brown, the founding partner of Brown Wharton & Brothers, which handles nursing home abuse cases nationwide.
“The public will have more ability to examine nursing homes and their records for abuse and neglect,” Brown said. “That makes everyone safer.”
For Brown, the issue is personal too. His grandfather was admitted to a nursing home to receive treatment for a blood disorder. After only two weeks there, he was found dead—but the cause of death was unrelated to his medical condition, according to an account on Brown’s company website.
Brown said his firm receives “hundreds and hundreds” of abuse cases every year.
In 2014, 14,258 complaints involving abuse, gross neglect, or exploitation at nursing homes were reported to the federal government’s Administration for Community Living ombudsman programs.
