Pete Stark: “nursing home residents and their advocates welcomes speedy passage of this bill, which is designed to prevent facilities…”

“nursing home residents and their advocates welcomes speedy passage of this bill, which is designed to prevent facilities that prospectively withdraw from Mediciaid from kicking out frail elderly people whose care is paid for through that program. Last April, the Wall Street Journal brought national attention to evictions of Medicaid residents from a nursing home in Indiana run by the chain Vencor, Inc. Subsequently, Florida fined a Vencor facility in Tampa $270,000 for doing the same thing. The legislation before us today is only a first step. Congress can and should enact additional legislation to confirm the Health Care Financing Administration's authority to prevent nursing homes that are reimbursed by Medicaid from arbitrarily changing the number of beds allocated for residents who are enrolled in this program. If we fail to do this, facilities will continue dumping elderly people who are admitted as private-pay residents, and later told that they must leave once they have "spent down" because " no Medicaid beds are available." Similarly, we should ensure that seniors are protected who are Medicaid-eligible at the time they seek admission to nursing homes. Too often, facilities tell these folks that their Medicaid beds are full, in hopes that a patient who can afford to pay a higher private rate will soon apply.”