[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 38 (Monday, September 25, 2000)]
[Pages 2112-2114]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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The President's Radio Address

September 16, 2000

    Good morning. I'm joining you today from the Washington Home, a 
nursing home in our Nation's Capital that has been delivering quality 
care to older Americans for more than 100 years now. The seniors here 
with me receive top-quality assistance from a dedicated and attentive 
staff.

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    Every one of the 1.6 million Americans living in nursing homes all 
across our Nation deserve the same quality care. And as the baby boomers 
retire, the demand for quality care will continue to rise even higher. 
By the year 2030, the number of Americans over the age of 85 will 
double, making compassionate, quality nursing home care even more 
important.
    But while the majority of nursing homes today provide excellent 
care, too many of our seniors and Americans with disabilities in homes, 
in too many of those homes, are not getting the proper attention they 
deserve. According to current research, the number one culprit is 
chronic understaffing. When there are too few caregivers for the number 
of patients, the quality of care goes down.
    A recent study from the Department of Health and Human Services 
reports that more than half of America's nursing homes don't have the 
minimum staffing levels necessary to guarantee quality care. And too 
often the staff that is there isn't properly trained. Patients in these 
homes are more likely to lose too much weight, develop bed sores, fall 
into depression. More than 30 percent are dehydrated, malnourished, at 
much higher risk for illness and infection.
    Older Americans who have worked hard all their lives deserve 
respect, not neglect, and for more than 7 years now, Vice President Gore 
and I have acted to improve the quality of care in our Nation's nursing 
homes. In 1995 we put in place new regulations to crack down on abuse 
and neglect, stepping up on-site inspections of nursing homes.
    That same year, when Congress tried to eliminate Federal assurances 
of nursing home quality, I said no. Then in 1998 I issued an Executive 
order, requiring all States to increase investigations of nursing homes 
and fine those that failed to provide the residents with adequate care.
    Today I'm taking four new steps to improve nursing home conditions 
across America. First, working with Senator Grassley, a Republican from 
Iowa, and Senator Breaux, a Democrat from Louisiana, along with 
Representatives Waxman, Stark, and Gephardt, I'm sending legislation to 
Congress next week that I believe can be enacted this year. It will 
create $1 billion in new grants to boost staffing levels in nursing 
homes that need it most, to improve recruitment and retention, and to 
give more training to caregivers, rewarding the best performing nursing 
homes.
    While working to improve nursing home care, we have to act swiftly 
to keep nursing homes safe. This legislation will impose immediate 
financial penalties on nursing homes that are endangering the safety of 
their residents, and then those funds will be used to improve patient 
care.
    Second, I'm directing the Health Care Financing Administration to 
establish, within 2 years, minimum staffing requirements for all nursing 
homes participating in the Federal Medicare and Medicaid programs. The 
agency will also develop recommendations to ensure that nursing homes 
receive the necessary payments for high-quality care.
    Third, we are taking new measures to educate caregivers at nursing 
homes. Just this week we launched a new campaign in America's 17,000 
nursing homes to identify residents who are at risk and prevent them 
becoming dehydrated or malnourished.
    And finally, to help families select the right nursing home, we'll 
require all facilities to post the number of health care personnel 
serving their patients.
    Of all the obligations we owe to one another, our most sacred duty 
is to our parents. They kept us safe from harm when we were children, 
and we must do the same for them as they grow older. They shouldn't go 
another day without the care they deserve wherever they live, in 
whatever nursing home facility.
    President Kennedy once said, ``It is not enough for a great nation 
merely to have added new years to life. Our objective must be also to 
add new life to those years.''
    The steps we're taking today will help to bring new life to our 
Nation's seniors by bringing a new level of quality to America's nursing 
homes.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Washington Home.

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