Florida Nursing Home Abuse
Nursing Home Abuse News in the State of
Florida:
January 24, 2003
Florida nursing home provision fails to go into effect years after passed
In 2001, Florida passed a law limiting the ability of nursing home patients to sue abusive or negligent facilities. A key factor in the promise was the requirement for nursing homes to increase the amount of time nursing aides spent caring for their patients, which has been shown to have a direct correlation on the quality of care provided to the nursing home residents.
The provision increased the staffing requirement from 1.7 hours a day to 2.9 hours over a three-year period, but so far lawmakers have failed to allow enough in the budget to fulfill the law. In 2004, the increase to 2.9 hours was delayed to July 2005, leaving it at the current level of 2.6 hours. The increasing financial demands in the Medicaid program have led Gov. Jeb Bush to include in his budget proposal recommendations for delaying the 2.9 hour requirement until July 2006.
The delays would save more than $65 million in the upcoming budget year despite allowing the staffing requirement to fall short of the 2.9 hours a day minimum care level recommended by the federal government. Delays, while having a direct impact on the care provided in nursing homes and its increased risk for nursing home abuse and neglect, fall short of the minimum care level as well as backtracking on a promise made to nursing home residents years ago.
While the problems within the nation's nursing homes are not living up to a minimum standard of care, continuing to delay improving the quality of care within the homes will only increase the number of nursing home abuse and neglect reports. There are 1.6 million nursing home residents, a number which is expected to quadruple to 6.6 million by 2050. The number of aging Americans represents the greatest population in the country, and failing to repair the inadequacies in the nursing homes will leave millions of Americans without the care they deserve.
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