Hillary Clinton Statement on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Refusal to Fully Disclose Information About Under-Performing Nursing Home Facilities

Senator Hillary Clinton today released a statement in response to yesterday's Des Moines Register story regarding the refusal of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to fully disclose information about under-performing nursing home facilities:

"While I am pleased that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has publicly released the names of 54 chronically underperforming nursing homes around the country, I urge CMS to provide seniors and state advocates with information about all of the underperforming nursing homes it has identified. According to CMS, the 54 publicly released facilities are only a sub-set of the 128 nursing homes that have been designated as "special focus facilities" for concerns about poor performance. Three of the yet-to-be disclosed facilities are in Iowa. CMS should immediately release information on all of these facilities, so seniors can know which underperforming nursing homes are taking steps to improve their performance and which are not. In making such crucial life decisions, seniors and their families should have access to all the designations that CMS makes, and all of the information that it compiles.

"In addition, I call on CMS to provide seniors and their families with a more comprehensive set of information about long term care facilities. CMS should provide on the Nursing Home Compare website accurate, up-to-date data on nursing home staffing levels; the full—not just abridged—reports from inspections and complaint investigations; and any and all information about repeat offenses that CMS compiles.

"Finally, CMS should compile and post clear information about the ownership structures of long-term care facilities. This is a vital step to address a growing concern in the long-term care industry—nursing homes facilities that are purchased by private investment groups appear to disproportionately experience declines in quality-of-care, alongside cuts in nursing staff and other resources. In October, I called for the GAO to investigate whether we have the right regulatory tools to ensure that nursing homes with these new hybrid ownership structures are being held accountable for quality violations. While I look forward to the GAO's recommendations, we should immediately provide consumers and state-level regulators with as much information as possible on nursing home ownership, so they can make effective decisions.

"I know that the vast majority of nursing homes are providing quality care to their residents. But I also believe in the power of transparency to make our long term care infrastructure healthier, more competitive and more accountable. I urge CMS to publish its full special focus facilities list and to take the additional steps I have outlined so that seniors and their families can make informed choices about their long-term care needs."