Indiana Injury Lawyer Blog

Indiana families know how difficult it can be to find a quality nursing home for their loved ones. Nursing Home Abuse is one big concern. Nursing Home Neglect and Injuries are growing problems that often go unreported or aren't discovered until it is too late. Recently, the Indianapolis Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers read a report by the AARP which detailed the best and worst states for long term care. Unfortunately, the article listed Indiana as one of the worst states, coming in at number 47 out of 50.

The lack of quality Nursing Home care not only in Indiana but throughout the country is getting President Obama's attention. The President recently proposed tough new penalties for skilled nursing facilities whose residents are too often taken to hospitals. These patients are taken to hospitals for treatment of injuries that came from falls, infections or faulty medication management. In other words, many of these patients are victims of Nursing Home Abuse, and these injuries are commonly seen by the experienced Indiana Nursing Home Neglect and Injury Attorneys at Kooi Law.

These new penalties for Nursing Home Injuries are part of President Obama's deficit reduction plan. Obama is seeking to cut several hundred million dollars from expected Medicare and Medicaid spending. Some of those cuts would come from payments to nursing homes and home health agencies, but some of those cuts would also target long term care facilities with high hospital admission rates.

The Kaiser Family Foundation found about 40% of Nursing Home patients are admitted to hospitals on average each year, and about 25% of them could be avoided. Additionally, a congressional review panel found about 14% of patients taken directly from hospitals to skilled nursing facilities are re-admitted to hospitals for conditions and/or injuries that could have been prevented.

The penalty for poor Nursing Home Quality of Care in Indiana Nursing Homes and in facilities across the country would be that these facilities could lose up to 3% of their Medicare payment. It would apply to residents who are getting rehabilitation or recovering from a hospital stay. As of now, it would not apply to long term residents getting Medicaid.

While the President's proposal could improve the quality of Nursing Home Care, it is also imperative that people who suspect Nursing Home Abuse report it to the proper authorities to ensure the perpetrators are stopped and punished and that the victims receive the proper care and compensation.