During the last months of the Obama administration, the federal government rolled out a new rule aimed at shielding the elderly from unscrupulous, abusive, or merely bad nursing home practices. The Trump administration is now poised to yank that protection away.
Last fall, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Service finalized a rule that banned nursing homes and assisted living facilities from forcing patients and their families into private arbitration to resolve any disputes—a practice that keeps any such conflicts out of the court system, thereby weakening patients' legal leverage. The rule was set for implementation last November, although court challenges by the nursing home and healthcare industry have kept it on hold.
On Monday night, the CMS released a proposed rule that would almost completely rescind the ban on mandatory arbitration clauses in nursing home contracts. "These proposed revisions would help strengthen transparency in the arbitration process, reduce unnecessary provider burden, and support residents’ rights to make informed decisions about important aspects of their health care," the agency said.