Beginning October 23, 2019, nursing homes cited for abuse in federal inspection reports will be flagged with a red warning icon at the Medicare-Medicaid online database.
Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect in Indiana and Illinois remains a serious problem. Consider this: while the District of Columbia has 55% of its nursing care facilities having the highest possible ranking (five stars), only 19.40% of nursing homes in Illinois are considered “five star” and an even smaller percentage (17.60%) rated “five stars” in the Hoosier State.
Sadly, many of our nursing homes are horrible. Some may find it shocking to learn that both Illinois and Indiana are described as being at “the Bottom of the Barrel” insofar as nursing home care by nursing care safety advocates at Families for Better Care.
Using federal data, the non-profit watchdog group studies the country’s nursing home facilities, state by state, and gives each an overall grade in its “Nursing Home Report Card.” The latest FBC report cards provide somber results for our part of the country.
FBC defines “the Bottom of the Barrel” as “the lowest ranked nursing home states that scored an overall failing grade … Texas (51), North Carolina (50), Illinois (49), Georgia (48), New Mexico (47), Pennsylvania (46), Michigan (45), Oklahoma (44), Louisiana (43), Arkansas (42), and Indiana (41).”
We have voiced our concerns over widespread nursing home abuse in both Indiana and Illinois before, and our apprehension remains that far too many vulnerable residents of local nursing care facilities are being harmed as victims of nursing home abuse and/or neglect. Read:
- 2019 Senate Report List Reveals Worst Nursing Homes in Indiana and Illinois;
- Nursing Home Lawsuits in Indiana and Illinois: Who Can Be Sued, and Why, for Elder Abuse or Neglect; and
- Seeking Justice for Victims of Nursing Home Injuries in Indiana and Illinois.
Accordingly, it is important to share the new October 2019 update to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) online database which will hopefully help victims and their families discover and/or monitor facilities for abuse or neglect.
New Federal Nursing Home Abuse Warning
A few days ago, the CMS website was updated to include a specific graphic warning to identify nursing homes that have been cited for abuse on federal inspection reports. Specifically, on October 23, 2019, a new icon has been placed next to the names of nursing homes cited for abuse within the past year, or for an incident that could have harmed a resident within the past two years.
The CMS online Nursing Home Compare database will be updated each month. The icon will be removed once the facility has demonstrated the issues have been resolved.
The icon itself is easily seen on the site page: it is a bright red circle containing a white raised hand, placed immediately below the name of the facility.
“Previously, consumers could learn about past instances of abuse citations at a nursing home, but finding this information from its health inspection reports available on Nursing Home Compare required multiple steps. Through today’s action, CMS is minimizing the steps, making it easier than ever for patients, residents, and their families and caregivers to quickly identify nursing homes with past citations for abuse.”
Red Warning Logos for Abuse at Indiana Nursing Homes
The Indiana database can be explored by zip code, county, or the state overall. As of November 1, 2019, there were 536 nursing home facilities operating in the State of Indiana and reporting to the federal government because they receive federal funding (Medicare, Medicaid).
Of these 536 Indiana nursing homes, 103 received a single star rating (“much below average”) and another 103 got only two stars (“below average”).
To explore the new red warning logos for abuse reports at an Indiana Nursing Home, go here.
Red Warning Logos for Abuse at Illinois Nursing Homes
The Illinois database can also be explored by zip code, county, or the state overall. As of November 1, 2019, there were 725 nursing home facilities operating in the State of Illinois and reporting to the federal government because they receive federal funding (Medicare, Medicaid).
Of these 725 Illinois nursing homes, 155 received a single star rating (“much below average”) and another 151 got only two stars (“below average”).
To explore the new red warning logos for abuse reports at an Illinois Nursing Home, go here.
Nursing Home Abuse and Nursing Home Neglect Lawsuits in Indiana and Illinois
Things must change in both Indiana and Illinois to stop the rampant amount of abuse and neglect in our local nursing home facilities. Our loved ones deserve so much better than to reside in states where less than 20% of facilities get five star ratings, and both Indiana and Illinois being labeled as the “bottom of the barrel” in nursing home care.
Having the readily identifiable red icon, updated monthly on the CMS database, is a step in the right direction. However, today it remains that one of the main weapons for justice is pursing legal claims on behalf of these victims against those who have intentionally hurt them or have caused them severe harm through their neglect.
Claims like these can be undertaken by the victim or their concerned family members, and fight against the core issues of greed and company profit-margins that motivate so much of these tragic situations.
These bodily injury claims can be filed in Indiana and Illinois, where the wrongdoers can be held liable for monetary damages based upon negligence, negligent supervision, and/or medical malpractice, among other things. In some instances, not only compensatory but punitive damages may be allowed.
For more, read:
- Indiana Nursing Homes Should Call the Closest EMS in Emergencies, But They’ve Been Known to Choose the Cheaper Option;
- Suing Nursing Homes: Tragic Risk in Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect; and
- Nursing Home Injury Claims for Victims in Indiana and Illinois.
If you suspect someone is a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect here in Indiana or Illinois, then fast action is extremely important to protect the vulnerable resident from harm. Investigations can be done both by official agencies as well as private individuals, through their advocates. Nursing home companies, along with administrators and other health care professionals can be held legally liable for their bad acts of neglect or abuse in a state nursing home facility.
It is a travesty that Indiana and Illinois have such a horrific reputation for nursing home abuse and neglect today. We must all work together to protect the most defenseless members of our society. Please let’s be careful out there!
