California Nursing Homes: Federal and State Oversight Inadequate to ProtectResidents in Homes with Serious Care Violations. Statement of William J. Scanlon, Director, Health Financing and Systems Issues, Health, Education and Human Services Division

摘要

The federal government has a major stake in nursing home care, having paid thenation's roughly 17,000 homes $28 billion in 1997 through the Medicare and Medicaid programs. While the public relies on nursing homes to provide care to one of the most vulnerable segments of our population, allegations were raised to your Committee that some 3,000 residents died in more than 900 California nursing homes in 1993 as a result of malnutrition, dehydration, sepsis from improperly treated urinary track infections, and other serious conditions for which they did not receive acceptable care.