1.This Act may be cited as the
Nursing Home Fire Safety Act of
2007
.
2.Findings and Sense of
Congress
(a)Congress finds the following:
(1)An estimated 1,500,000 Americans reside in
approximately 16,300 nursing facilities nationwide, an estimated 20 to 30
percent of which lack an automatic fire sprinkler system.
(2)In a July 2004 report, the Government
Accountability Office found that the substantial loss of life in [recent
nursing home] fires could have been reduced or eliminated by the presence of
properly functioning automatic sprinkler systems
and that
Federal oversight of nursing home compliance with fire safety standards
is inadequate
.
(3)Many nursing facilities lack the financial
capital to install sprinklers on their own and must consider closure as an
alternative to taking on large loans or other financing options in order to
install sprinklers.
(4)Recognizing that automatic fire sprinkler
systems greatly improve the chances of survival for older adults in the event
of a fire, the National Fire Protection Association, with the support of the
American Health Care Association, the fire safety community, and the nursing
facility profession, recently adopted requirements for automatic sprinklers in
all existing nursing facilities.
(b)It is the sense of
Congress that—
(1)within 5 years, every nursing facility in
America should be equipped with automatic fire sprinklers in order to ensure
patient, resident, and staff safety;
(2)the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS) should require all nursing homes to be fully sprinklered as
recently required by the Life Safety Code of the National Fire Protection
Association with the support of the nursing home industry, which includes the
requirement that all nursing facilities be fully sprinklered; and
(3)the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services, in collaboration with Congress, should take into consideration the
costs of retrofitting existing nursing home facilities and commit itself to
providing facilities with the critical financial resources necessary to ensure
the speedy and full installation of life saving sprinkler systems.
3.Direct loans for fire
sprinklers retrofits
(a)Not later than 120 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall
establish a program of direct loans to existing nursing facilities to finance
retrofitting the facilities with an automatic fire sprinkler system. Such loans
shall be made under terms and conditions specified by the Secretary.
(b)Authorization of
appropriationsThere is
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be
necessary for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012.
4.Sprinkler retrofit
assistance grants
(a)Not later than 120 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall
establish a program to award grants to nursing facilities for the purposes of
retrofitting them with an automatic fire sprinkler system. Such grants shall be
awarded under terms and conditions specified by the Secretary.
(b)In awarding grants under this section, the
Secretary shall give a priority to applications that demonstrate a need or
hardship. In determining hardship, the Secretary may take into account factors
such as the number of residents who are entitled to or enrolled in the medicare
program under title 18 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.) or
receiving assistance under the medicaid program under title 19 of such Act (42
U.S.C. 1396 et seq.), the age and condition of the facility, and the need for
nursing facility beds in the community involved.
(c)Authorization of
appropriationsThere is
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be
necessary for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012.