Evan Bayh: “today I rise as an original co-sponsor of S. 494, the Nursing Home Resident Protection Amendments of 1999, a bipartisan…”

“today I rise as an original co-sponsor of S. 494, the Nursing Home Resident Protection Amendments of 1999, a bipartisan bill that would protect Medicaid patients from being dumped out of nursing homes in favor of patients who pay only through private funds. When a senior citizen enters a nursing home facility he or she does so with the intention of making it their new home. It may not have the memories or immediate comfort level of the home they are used to, but for each elderly person that must enter a nursing home, they are exchanging the feelings of familiarity connected with their old home for the security and peace of mind that only comes with constant medical attention. In the recent past, some nursing home companies took actions that jettisoned these residents from the beds of their new homes based solely on their method of payment. Those who had the economic capability to pay with private funds were allowed to remain in the facility while those that needed governmental assistance in payment, paying with Medicaid dollars, were told to leave. The eviction is not just a matter of the inconvenience of finding a new home, it is a matter of life and death. Studies show that death rates among nursing home patients who are transferred or evicted is two to three times higher than normal. In some circumstances people were left without any real 'home' to go to.”