II 110th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 2480 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES December 13, 2007 Mrs. Clinton (for herself and Mr. Harkin) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to publically disclose the identity of long-term care facilities listed under the Special Focus Facility Program of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Nursing Home Quality and Transparency Act.

2.

Findings

Congress makes the following findings: (1)America's population is rapidly aging. The population most likely to need long-term care, those 85 years of age and older, is projected to increase from 5,000,000 in 2006 to 21,000,000 by 2050. (2)Currently approximately 10,000,000 Americans have long-term care needs. Conservative estimates indicate that the number of those needing care will double by 2050. (3)Nearly 3,000,000 Americans depend on approximately 16,000 nursing homes nationwide at some point during each year to provide them with care that is critical to their health and well-being. (4)On November 29, 2007, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (referred to in this section as CMS) at the Department of Health and Human Services released its first ranking of poor-performing nursing homes. (5)This list of special focus facilities will give families critical information as they are choosing nursing home care for a loved one. (6)As of October 2007, there were 128 special focus facilities identified by CMS. These nursing homes were identified because they are among the poorest 5 to 10 percent in each State. (7)Designation as a special focus facility results in twice as many inspections and monthly documentation of all complaints for nursing homes on the list. (8)CMS data indicate that about 50 percent of the nursing homes identified as special focus facilities improve their quality within 24 to 30 months, while about 16 percent are terminated from participation in Medicare and Medicaid. (9)Despite the value of disclosing this information to families, CMS released the names of only 52 of the 128 poor performing nursing homes. (10)To promote transparency and quality in care, the names of all nursing homes that are designated as special focus facilities should be made available to the public.

3.

Disclosure of special focus facilities

Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and monthly thereafter, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall disclose, through the use of the Internet website of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the identities of those long-term care facilities that appear on the list of special focus facilities under the Special Focus Facility Program of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.