Current Events > Trump admin to end rule allowing nursing home residents to sue over mistreatment

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http://thehill.com/regulation/healthcare/345411-fight-over-right-to-sue-nursing-homes-heats-up

Consumer groups are making a last ditch effort to stop the Trump administration from stripping nursing home residents and their families of the right to take facilities to court over alleged abuse, neglect or sexual assault.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) announced plans in June to do away with an Obama-era rule that prohibited nursing homes that accept Medicare or Medicaid funds from including language in their resident contracts requiring that disputes be settled by a third party rather than a court.

Public comments on the CMS proposal to do away with that rule are due Monday and groups are urging the agency to reconsider.

More than 75 consumer, health and advocacy groups have come together to form the Fair Arbitration Now (FAN) Coalition to stop CMS from reversing what they claim is a critical protection for the elderly.

Remington Gregg, counsel for civil justice and consumer rights at Public Citizen, said the rule change is not only unnecessary, but shameful.

Gregg said the provisions, known to lawyers as pre-dispute arbitration agreements, create an unequal balance of power between the nursing home and its elderly patients or the family members caring for them.

“When you are trying to get someone in a nursing home, often time it's stressful or an emotional time. Often times loved ones can’t take care of themselves, so for a nursing home to say in order to get in you have to waive your right is shameful,” he said.

“We’re talking about everything you may have a problem with – abuse, neglect, sexual assault, a wide variety of things – they are now saying you are waiving your right to full justice.”

CMS said it decided to reconsider the Obama rule after a federal district court judge in Mississippi issued an order in November temporarily blocking the rule from taking effect.

The American Health Care Association (AHCA) and a group of nursing homes had sued CMS and the Department of Health and Human Services in October, claiming that the rule violated the Federal Arbitration Act, and that the agencies had overstepped their statutory authority in issuing the law. The AHCA said Congress has repeatedly rejected legislation to invalidate arbitration agreements.

In June, the federal judge agreed to the parties’ joint request to put the case on hold while CMS revises the rule.

Under its proposed revisions, CMS said nursing homes would be required to write the arbitration agreements in plain language and explain the agreement to the prospective resident or his or her representative. Residents would also be required to acknowledge they understand the agreement.

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I would think having courts settle disputes would be better than an arbitrator but than I realized that the American court system is a joke
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The fuck is wrong with them

Maga!!!@!
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And I can imagine what the Dem message to the AARP members are going to be in 2018.
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Antifar posted...

language in their resident contracts requiring that disputes be settled by a third party rather than a court.

So fair, next. If they don't like it don't sign the contract.
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Gojak_v3 posted...

So fair, next. If they don't like it don't sign the contract.

Republicans even defend this shit. Come on, you wouldn't what your mother treated poorly in her old age would you. And if something bad did happen you would want the power to fight it wouldn't you.
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89 year old granny needs to lift herself up by her own bootstrap and beat nurse ratched with them
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Yes, MORE WINNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Yes. We know. Old and rural people will lose. Rich urban people will win.

But old people will praise Trump while rich urban people will feign outrage.
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cjsdowg posted...

Gojak_v3 posted...

So fair, next. If they don't like it don't sign the contract.

Republicans even defend this shit. Come on, you wouldn't what your mother treated poorly in her old age would you. And if something bad did happen you would want the power to fight it wouldn't you.

Nope no problem with it since:

Antifar posted...

Under its proposed revisions, CMS said nursing homes would be required to write the arbitration agreements in plain language and explain the agreement to the prospective resident or his or her representative.

I wonder how many of you guys actually read what was posted and aren't just knee jerking. Not to mention there would be third party arbitration.
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Good news everybody we're extending arts and crafts time by 4 hours today
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Gojak_v3 posted...

I wonder how many of you guys actually read what was posted and aren't just knee jerking. Not to mention there would be third party arbitration.

Yeah people don't want they want to go to court.
Next you know good and fucking damn well that places that have the most issues would be the ones the write in the contract people can not sue. And you know what for most people it is hard to find a place that they can afford. So this making even harder on them.
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why? what positive do they see here?

it is interesting how old people generally vote in higher numbers than younger people, and republicans are willing to fuck them over
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How are nursing homes currently being held accountable? Can they get their shit kicked in by law enforcement and/or taken down for breaking laws, or do they cover their asses so well via legalese and fineprint that negligence and criminal activities can't be reported to significant effect to a higher legal power?

Because if you can't get a nursing home's shit wrecked for forgetting to feed Grandma for days at a time or stealing her jewellery without dragging them to court, then there's something absolutely fucking disgusting about the system and the end to this rule is absolutely fucking disgusting. At face value, it looks like it fucks over the vulnerable party and provides an additional layer of protection to those who stand to benefit from their mistreatment, and the only reason I can see for this policy to be removed is because it came from Obama's government.

This policy covers sexual misconduct as well. If there's an orderly who's sick enough to rape a resident of the nursing home they work at, that fucker deserves to be bled dry by any means necessary. If this policy goes away, then what measure is left to punish molesters and abusers for preying on the weak? That's a genuine question - how good are the protections for nursing home residents aside from this law, how else can you punish misconduct and challenge abuse? Because without an easy way to combat that fuckery, then the repeal of this policy is an absolute fucking disgrace and the fuckers who pass the repeal should eat concrete.
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My mother has a PHD in Elder Care, she's gotta be pissed.
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Paper_Okami posted...

My mother has a PHD in Elder Care, she's gotta be pissed.

Why? This is definitely beneficial for most people, and it reduces some of the burden placed on these facilities. Seems like a win for everyone involved.
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TheRealDill2000 posted...

Why? This is definitely beneficial for most people, and it reduces some of the burden placed on these facilities. Seems like a win for everyone involved.

Are you fucking joking ?
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TheRealDill2000 posted...

Seems like a win for everyone involved.

lmao

cjsdowg posted...

TheRealDill2000 posted...

Why? This is definitely beneficial for most people, and it reduces some of the burden placed on these facilities. Seems like a win for everyone involved.

Are you fucking joking ?

What? Why would you think that?
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