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Fighting for the Rights of Nursing Home Residents: the Healthcare Bill Targets Elder Abuse

Advocates for the elderly received great news when the federal healthcare bill was signed into law. One little-known provision of the bill was $777 million – spread over four years – to fight elder abuse and neglect in the United States.

The provisions included in the healthcare bill are very similar to those in the Elder Justice Act, which proponents have been trying to put before Congress unsuccessfully since 2002. Groups like the National Center on Elder Abuse and various coalition partners have been fighting for more money and attention to address the nation’s elder abuse problems.

Features of the elder abuse provisions in the bill include:

• Federal money for state and local adult protective service programs
• Money for 1,700 new elder abuse and neglect investigators
• State demonstration grants to research new ways to protect vulnerable adults
• Financing for new and existing state ombudsmen to investigate complaints at nursing homes, long term care facilities, and assisted living facilities.
• Creation of a coordinating council which will deliver a report to the federal secretary of Health and Human Services in 2 years on recommendations to prevent elder abuse
• Establishment of the Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention Act, which will create a national system of criminal background checks specifically to investigate individuals trying to gain employment at nursing homes, assisted living facilities, or long-term care facilities.

Advocates for these provisions are thrilled that they made it into the massive healthcare bill. With all this funding and attention that elder abuse and neglect will receive, we hope to see a meaningful reduction in instances of nursing home abuse over the coming years.

However, the problem is still out there – every day Virginia nursing home residents are hurt, neglected, abused, and exploited. You should not be afraid or reluctant to ask for help if you suspect that a loved one is being abused. Please contact our Norfolk office to talk about your situation with our compassionate, discrete Virginia nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers.

Weisberg & Zaleski, P.C.

112 College Place

Norfolk, VA 23510

Toll Free: (800) 690-0235

Phone: (757) 622-7740

Fax: (757) 533-9223

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