§1395i–3a Protecting Residents of Long-term Care Facilities

Summary

The Secretary of Health and Human Services must hire an organization to create and run a National Training Institute for Federal and State surveyors. The Institute must train and help surveyors who investigate reports of abuse, neglect, and theft in programs and long‑term care facilities that get payments under title XVIII or XIX of the Social Security Act (Medicare or Medicaid). The Institute must check how States use specialized surveyors, find ways to improve surveyor skills and give feedback to agencies, offer national training, tools, and technical help, share best practices, and review complaint intake systems to make sure intake is available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week (including holidays). If approved by the Secretary, the Institute can also run a national 24/7 backup intake system. It must report each year on complaint numbers and sources, how many complaints are sent to law enforcement, and investigation results, and must study the cost to States of investigating complaints in skilled nursing and nursing facilities and suggest ways to make those investigations more efficient. There is $12,000,000 authorized for this from fiscal years 2011 through 2014. The Secretary must also give grants to State agencies that survey skilled nursing facilities or nursing facilities under sections 1819 and 1919 of the Social Security Act. Those grants must be used to build complaint investigation systems that quickly prioritize serious complaints, respond effectively and in a timely way, and improve teamwork among the State agency, the State Long‑Term Care Ombudsman, local law enforcement, advocacy and consumer groups, State aging units, Area Agencies on Aging, and other appropriate partners. There is $5,000,000 authorized for each fiscal year 2011 through 2014.