Trump seeks to strip protections for nursing home patients
Advocate groups are rallying to protect an Obama-era rule that would give patients and their families the right to sue long-term care facilities. The Trump administration has threatened to roll back the rule and implement revisions that would make filing such suits virtually impossible.
The rule specifically states that facilities that rely on Medicaid or Medicare may no longer use forced arbitration clauses in their patient agreements. Forced arbitration, which nearly all facilities include in their standard contract, essentially prevents consumers from taking an organization or business to court, requiring them to hash out their problems in private.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under President Trump first proposed the rollback in June, just months after the American Health Care Association (AHCA) and a group of nursing homes challenged the original rule in court. In November, a district court judge in Mississippi sided with the AHCA, preventing the policy from being implemented. According to The Hill, Judge Michael Mills stated that he was sympathetic to nursing home patients but couldn’t abide a federal agency overstepping its authority. The AARP, which backed the initial Obama-era rule when it was first introduced, issued a stern rebuke on Thursday, citing “grave concerns.”
“We are alarmed that CMS’ decision…will very likely have dangerous and harmful impacts on nursing facility residents, as well as their families, and place them at even greater risk than they faced before[…],” David Certner, AARP Legislative Counsel & Legislative Policy Director, wrote in a letter on Thursday. “…In short, pre-dispute binding arbitration agreements are wholly inappropriate where health and life are at risk.”
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-administration-moves-closer-to-effectively-banning-patients-from-suing-nursing-homes/
Don't fuck with seniors Trump
= new reply since forum marked as read
