National Issues

NCCNHR: Strengthening standards for assisted living. Coalition of long-term care consumer advocates, regulators, and direct care staff release Policy Principles for Assisted Living to improve care provided to assisted living residents (April 29, 2003). Read more and get report here.

Staffing accountability bill introduced in Senate. Requires nursing homes to file quarterly reports showing their nurse staffing levels. See NCCNHR's statement in support of bill, August 1, 2002.

Grassley, Breaux seek nursing home staffing information. See press release August 7, 2002

NCCNHR applauds defeat of McConnell Amendment. Residents' access to courts upheld. See press release July 30, 2002. 

GAO study of three states (Mississippi, Washington and Ohio) has found that homes providing more nursing hours for patients were less likely to have quality problems than homes providing fewer nursing hours. See Nursing Homes: Quality of Care More Related to Staffing than Spending (GAO-02-431R) (June 13, 2002) www.gao.gov 

New GAO Report Released March 4, 2002).  NCCNHR calls for stronger response to nursing home abuse. 

NCCNHR Press Release: “Government Study Provides ‘Compelling Evidence’ for Nurse Staffing Standards in Nursing Homes” (February 18, 2002) 

Appropriateness of Minimum Nurse Staffing Ratios in Nursing Homes Executive Summary (12 pages in pdf) and Overview of the Phase II Report (December 24, 2001)(17 pages in pdf) 

Waxman and Grassley write to Tom Scully with concerns about CMS Quality Initiative proposal
--November16, 2001-- Read the letter here (in PDF format).

Federal plan to provide the public with new quality indicators to compare nursing homes.  NCCNHR issues press release -- November 19, 2001 (pdf version)

Yes! Senate Approves Higher Spending for Ombudsman Program in 2002.  Read details. --October 31, 2001