Nursing Home Law Blog | Nursing Home Lawyer & Attorney : Stark & Stark Law Firm

Will Tort Reform Affect Nursing Home Care?

By Martin P. Schrama on July 20th, 2017 Posted in Legislation, Legislation Watch, Levels of Care, News, Nursing Home Information

The latest tort reform measure, H.R. 1215, the Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017, would place caps on medical malpractice damages, limit attorney fees, and modify statutes of limitations. Among other changes to current law, non-economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits would be limited to $250,000 – and juries would not be informed of this cap on damages. H.R. 1215 would apply to health care lawsuits where coverage for the care was provided or subsidized by the federal government, including through subsidies or tax benefits.

H.R. 1215 would preempt state laws governing health care litigation in several areas, including statutes of limitation, joint and several liability, product liability, and attorney contingency fees.

Proponents of the bill claim that the bill would lower medical liability insurance premiums, and by extension, reduce the incidence of so-called “defensive” medical treatments and lower costs associated with federal health care programs such as Medicaid.

Lowest Rating for Philadelphia’s Bala Nursing Home After Inspection

By Michael C. Ksiazek on July 17th, 2017 Posted in News

The U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently inspected the 139 nursing homes that it insures. HUD gave a Philadelphia nursing home its lowest possible rating. On a scale of 100, Bala Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Wynnefield Heights scored a 2.

Federal inspectors found 58 “safety and health” violations at Bala Nursing, including 37 that put residents in jeopardy. The violations including missing or broken handrails, blocked or locked fire exits, exposed wiring and missing protective plates, m broken “call-for-aid” devices, and rodent infestation.

Where Can I Find Nursing Home Ratings?

By Carin A. O'Donnell on July 13th, 2017 Posted in Nursing Home Information

If you are a member of the so-called “sandwich generation” – those people who are simultaneously caring for children as well as their elderly parents – you may be familiar with U.S. News & World Report’s college rankings. But did you know that U.S. News & World Report also has nursing home ratings? In fact, U.S. News recently evaluated more than 15,000 nursing homes across the country, ultimately including approximately 2000 of those facilities (366 in New Jersey) in its list of Best Nursing Homes.

U.S. News began publishing online ratings of nursing homes in 2009. Until its latest release, the tool used a “snapshot” of the star ratings posted on Nursing Home Compare, a consumer website of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS assigns an overall rating of one to five stars to nursing homes according to their performance in three areas – state-conducted health inspections, nurse staffing and medical quality measures.

What Are the Signs of Nursing Home Neglect?

By Carin A. O'Donnell on July 12th, 2017 Posted in Elder Issues, Levels of Care

A caregiver may face the overwhelming decision to place a loved one in a nursing home after a sudden event such as a fall or a stroke. Sometimes, there is more time to prepare, as in cases where the loved one suffers from a chronic or debilitating disease, including diseases where the patient is expected to deteriorate over time.

Once a loved one is safely tucked into a nursing home bed, a caregiver may feel a sense of relief. However, nursing home staff members are notoriously overburdened with the everyday tasks involved in caring for their elderly patients. Nonetheless, it is the responsibility of nursing home staff and management to ensure that each resident receives the care he or she needs.

Is My Elderly Parent Being Bullied?

By Eric D. Dakhari on July 10th, 2017 Posted in Elder Issues

When a loved one moves into a nursing home, staff members have a duty to continually provide the resident with the appropriate level of nursing care, medical care and personal attention.

Nursing home staff members are responsible for the residents’ well-being and are required to report all signs of abuse or neglect, including those arising from resident-to-resident interactions.

One form of abuse or neglect that may be overlooked by staff members is senior bullying. Continue Reading

New Jersey’s Safe Care Cam Program Expanded to Nursing Homes

By Eric D. Dakhari on June 22nd, 2017 Posted in Protecting Your Rights

To increase protection of its elderly and disabled citizens from abuse and neglect, the state of New Jersey is expanding its Safe Care Cam program to nursing homes, residences for the developmentally disabled, and other institutional care facilities. The Safe Care Cam program loans free surveillance cameras to New Jersey residents to monitor the treatment provided by caregivers. The cameras are provided for free 30-day loans to families who suspect or question whether a care provider is abusing or neglecting their loved one.

New Congress Trying to Protect Corporations from Nursing Home Abuse Claims

By Eric D. Dakhari on May 24th, 2017 Posted in Legislation

Without a hearing, our new congress wasted no time in trying to severely limit damages in nursing home abuse claims. A newly proposed law called the Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017 H.R. 1215, seeks to limit non-economic damages in all medical cases to $250K for everyone in the country.

Pennsylvania Nursing Homes Often Understaffed

By Eric D. Dakhari on May 1st, 2017 Posted in Levels of Care

In its five-part “Failing the Frail” series, a PennLive investigation reveals the 18 most understaffed Pennsylvania nursing homes. The series includes an interactive map to search for staffing levels of individual nursing homes.

Based on PennLive’s analysis of 559 facilities, nursing homes in Pennsylvania provided residents with an average of only 3.6 hours of care per day, well below the minimum 4.1 hours recommended for safe care, although within Pennsylvania’s minimum staffing requirement of 2.7 hours of care per day. The analysis found 477 homes, or 85 percent, provided less than the recommended level. The analysis further found that 183 homes, or 33 percent, were dangerously understaffed because they provided less than 3.5 hours of care per day and, less than 32 minutes of care from registered nurses.

Big Business after Consumers Once Again

By David Cohen on March 6th, 2017 Posted in Legislation, Protecting Your Rights

In 2011, the insurance, pharmaceutical, and nursing home industries worked together with an extraordinary budget to try to deceive American consumers into giving up their constitutional rights through a bill known then as HR-5. This bill would have severely harmed the rights of consumers across the country who were catastrophically injured or killed by any of those industries. The purpose of HR-5 was to allow physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance companies to increase their ever-burgeoning profit levels. With proponents of the bill outspending lobbying efforts of consumer rights organizations by a ratio of 10 to 1, the bill nonetheless failed when the truth came out.

NJ Attorney General Introduces New Program to Protect Residents from Abuse

By Stark & Stark on December 29th, 2016 Posted in Elder Issues, News

Just this week the New Jersey Attorney General, Christopher Porrino, and the Division of Consumer Affairs announced an exciting new program to protect individuals from the abuses of home healthcare providers. It is called the Safe Care Cam program and the purpose of the program is to provide micro-surveillance cameras for free 30 day loans to families that suspect an in-home care giver is abusing or neglecting their loved one.