White House Drops Plan to Cut Nursing Home Reviews

The White House quickly abandoned a proposal to reduce inspections of many nursing homes Tuesday, saying the idea was never actively considered by President Clinton.

A number of consumer groups and state officials had panned the proposal, which had been outlined in policy documents distributed by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Officials said the administration is seeking better ways to crack down on nursing homes that violate federal standards and the proposed changes were meant to result in targeting the worst cases. Following the outcry, they began saying fewer inspections didn’t seem to be the answer.

“It’s probably not going anywhere any time fast,” said White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry. The idea, he said, never made it to the White House or the desk of Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala for review.

“We’re always looking for new, innovative ways to do business, but we would never do anything that would compromise the quality of care or oversight,” said Peter Garrett, spokesman for the Health Care Financing Administration, which runs Medicare and Medicaid.

The Los Angeles Times and the New York Times reported the proposed policy change Tuesday, saying federal officials felt that narrowing the scope of reviews would make it easier to target the worst offenders. They noted government data that show more than two-thirds of nursing homes do not fully comply with federal standards.

Nursing homes must meet federal standards to obtain payment from Medicaid and Medicare. Under current rules, state agencies inspect the homes for compliance and federal officials then inspect at least 5% of homes to verify the findings.