Nursing Home Abuse Advocate : Idaho Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers & Attorneys : Kormanik Hallam & Sneed Law Firm : ID Assisted Living Neglect, Nursing Home Injuries : Boise, Nampa, Caldwell

In an article on the Oregonian's website, Julie Sullivan  laments the state of Oregon's Ombudsman's program. According to Ms. Sullivan, Oregon's ombudsman program has only one paid employee for every 6,692 long-term care facility beds. That is not good. Ms. Sullivan's article got me wondering how Idaho fairs in this arena.

One of the very first posts on this blog was about the Idaho Commission on Aging's Ombudsman program. If you recall, an Ombudsman is a person appointed by the Idaho Commission on Aging to investigate complaints concerning your care in either a Nursing Home or an Assisted Living Facility. The Ombudsman will insure your health, safety, welfare and rights are protected. You can contact the Ombudsman free of charge 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

According to the most recent survey available, the 2008 National Ombudsman Report, Idaho has one paid employee for every 1,054 long-term care facility beds. Although this is certainly better than Oregon, some changes apparently loom on the horizon for Idaho's Ombudsman's program. According to Ms. Sullivan, Oregon's Ombudsman's program is slated to loose two-thirds of its federal funding due to a scheduled change in the Medicare law. Idaho's Ombudsman program receives approximately 93.5% of its funding from the federal government. Given the state of the economy, it is highly unlikely any cut in federal funding will be replaced on a dollar-for-dollar basis by the state government. Idaho nursing home and assisted living facility residents may be in a much worse position in the coming year.

At the end of the day, making sure nursing home and assisted facility residents are safe is a full-time job. If you visit a family member, friend or loved-one at a facility, make sure their roommate or neighbor is doing alright. Unfortunately, an Ombudsman may not be around to do so.

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In a previous post entitled "Reliable Internet Resources For Choosing A Nursing Home," I linked to Medicare's "Nursing Home Compare" website. Through the Nursing Home Compare website, you can access and view a facility's "Five Star" rating. According the Medicare:

"The Five-Star Quality Rating System was created to help consumers, their families, and caregivers compare nursing homes more easily and help identify areas about which you may want to ask questions. This rating system is based on continued efforts as a result of the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA '87), a nursing home reform law, and more recent quality improvement campaigns such as the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes, a coalition of consumers, health care providers, and nursing home professionals."

From the link I posted, it takes approximately five (5) "clicks" to get to the faciilty's rating. Shouldn't it be easier than having to go through Medicare's website to find a facility's Five Star rating? The folks in California think so. That is why a new law was passed that requires nursing home facilities, beginning in January 2011, to post their rating. According to Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich: "This posting system provides vital information for families to make informed decisions about the care for their loved ones and provides incentives for nursing homes operators to establish and maintain high-quality standards of care and compliance."

Now, I'm generally not in favor of more laws. There are, of course, exceptions to every rule. You have to wonder why nursing homes would not voluntarily post their Five Star ratings. After all, aren't they something to be proud of? If not, why isn't the facility doing something to "fix" the problems it has?

Come on, Idaho nursing homes, do you need a law requiring you to post your ratings or will you do the right thing for your potential residents and conspicuously post your Medicare ratings for all to see? Don't you want to provide this information to those shopping for the best nursing home around? Really, what do you have to hide?

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In today's New York Times, an editorial by Harold Pollack, of the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration, recognizes one of the costs of expanded health care now being considered by Congress. According to Mr. Pollack,  although approximately 30 million Americans stand to gain health care coverage under the bills now being considered by Congress, that expanded coverage comes with a price.

That price, Mr. Pollack informs us, is a decrees in Medicare spending on home health care services. These are the very services which allow Medicare recipients to remain at home and out of nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Mr. Pollack's editorial contains short views of a number of other experts concerning the Senate bill.

Is it better for us or our loved ones to be cared for at home rather than be forced, by financial realities, to enter a nursing home or assisted living facility? Of course. Is it better for 30 million Americans to be provided with health care coverage which they otherwise would not have? Of course. There, as they say, is the rub.

No matter the final outcome of the health care debate, with the aging of the American population, one thing is certain. More people will likely be entering into nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Those individuals and their families must be sure the facility provides the services necessary to provide adequate care. Those facilities also must be held to the highest standards in the care of residents.

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