[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16146-16147]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    NURSING HOME ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Walker) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, we have a problem in making sure that all of 
our senior adult population is treated with the utmost respect and 
proper care.
  HUD's Section 232 Program was intended to provide Federal loan 
insurance for loans covering the needs of nursing homes and other 
elder-care facilities. However, while HUD requires these applicants to 
submit their latest quality ratings, which is a one-star to five-star 
rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, the 
quality rating is not a deciding factor.
  This has allowed nursing homes that provide routinely poor care to 
receive repeated taxpayer insurance loans. Among others, this is seen 
in the rise in the number and volume of one-star facilities that 
received HUD insurance each year from 2009 to 2012 but, also, in 
reports over two decades from GAO's and HUD's inspectors general.
  Clearly, HUD's steps haven't gone far enough to provide real reform 
to ensure that taxpayer dollars do not go to nursing homes that 
consistently provide poor care to our seniors and to our needy. We must 
ensure that taxpayer support is going to nursing homes that provide 
quality care for their residents, not to facilities that provide 
continually deficient care.
  By linking CMS' quality ratings to loan eligibility, the Nursing Home 
Accountability Act ensures that new federally backed loans go to 
nursing homes with a demonstrated commitment to quality care for their 
residents.
  Bottom line, what my bill states is this:
  Under CMS' Five-Star Quality Rating System, if a nursing home 
receives a rating of two stars or less for 30 consecutive months, the 
nursing home will then be ineligible for any future section 232 loans.
  After a nursing home becomes ineligible for future section 232 loans 
under this Act, it can become eligible once more for future loans if 
the facility

[[Page 16147]]

maintains a rating of three stars or more for 30 months.
  Regarding ratings, all nursing homes receive a blank slate when this 
law is enacted, and HUD is allowed to continue to service previously 
issued loans under this law.
  I would also like to say thanks to our local FOX affiliate for 
researching the gross mismanagement of Federal funds and bringing a 
greater awareness of this important matter.
  Overall, I look forward to opening the national conversation of how 
we can better focus this program on the quality of care provided to our 
seniors and to the needy.

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