Watch for a new oversight bill for nursing homes to be introduced before yearend. Among the possible contents:
- Reauthorization of the Elder Justice Act, including forensic centers to investigate elder abuse.
- Recommendations that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services use codes that might indicate elder abuse to verify whether abuse is adequately reported.
Elsewhere, Congress is working with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to have the agency consider looking more comprehensively at and potentially bolstering the five-star rating to address abuse.