Gov. Bush Signs Florida Nursing Home Bills into Law, as Three Other States Consider Long Term Care Measures
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) on May 15 signed into law a package of bills that address nursing home liability and care issues. The bills give nursing homes a "better chance to defend themselves" against charges of abuse by capping punitive damages and eliminating automatic attorney fees, the AP/South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports (Kallestad, AP/South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 5/16). Under the legislation, in order to receive higher levels of punitive damages, plaintiffs will need to prove that a nursing home worker intended to harm a patient, that the home's managers knew about the problem and did not correct it, and that the abuse was "motivated by 'unreasonable financial gain.'" The legislative package also addresses "quality of care issues," appropriating $60.4 million to increase the number of staff members in nursing homes. In addition, the number of care hours required per patient will increase from 1.7 per day to 2.9 by 2004. More state inspectors will be hired under the legislation, funded by increased licensing fees paid by the facilities (Groeller, Orlando Sentinel, 5/14).
Funding, Care Concerns
With the nation's nursing home industry in financial trouble, state legislatures in Texas, New York and Louisiana are also considering measures to help nursing homes.
- Texas: State lawmakers are attempting to cut $175 million from the state budget to use the funds to increase reimbursements to nursing homes. Orginally, lawmakers had planned to raise funds by requiring nursing homes to pay a $5.25 daily fee for each resident in the facility, whichwould have been used to draw additional federal Medicaid marching funds and then redistributed to facilities. But Gov. Rick Perry (R) said he would veto such a proposal. A House-Senate committee is not sure what areas of the budget will be cut, but options include shifting money from the $380 million Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund, which finances rural telecommunications development (Susswein, Austin American-Statesman, 5/17).
- Louisiana: The Louisiana House voted May 9 in favor of a bill (HB 1789) that would "severely restrict" the use of state reports on nursing homes as evidence in civil lawsuits. The nursing home industry supports the measure, as it would prevent lawyers from introducing "unproven allegations" as evidence. Opponents, however, say the bill "strip[s]" away patients' rights and makes it difficult to prove neglect or abuse. The Senate has already passed a similar measure and is currently considering the House bill (Shuler, Baton Rouge Advocate, 5/8).
- New York: Gov. George Pataki (R) has proposed legislation that would require nursing homes to finance criminal background checks for all employees who "provide direct care." Called the Nursing Home Quality Improvement Act, the bill would also increase fines for quality violations from $2,000 to $5,000, with a maximum of $10,000 per violation for problems that recur within two years. In addition, if a facility is found unsafe, the bill authorizes the state health commissioner to "remove operators" without a court order (Benjamin, Albany Times-Union, 5/8).
