Alabama Supreme Court Upholds Arbitration Agreement Signed by Nursing Home Resident’s Daughter

In April of this year, the Alabama Supreme Court, in Tennessee Health Management, Inc. v. Carol J. Rousseau Johnson, as personal representative of the estate of Dolores J. Rousseau, deceased (CV-08-900469) held that a nursing home resident “passively permitted” her daughter to sign an pre-admission arbitration agreement on her behalf. As a result, the woman’s [...]

New Hampshire Nursing Homes Sue DHHS

On occasion, I’ve blogged about nursing homes and the “burden” of Medicare Part D. In July, I told you that pharmaceutical representatives testified on Capitol Hill that nursing homes are losing money under the program. Nursing homes are also concerned about Medicaid under-reimbursements. Sixty nursing homes in New Hampshire are suing the Department of Health [...]

Senate Rejects Medical Care Access Protection Act

The American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living issued a statement about the U.S. Senate’s rejection of the Medical Care Access Protection Act, a bill that would have implemented health care liability reforms. Long term care providers have had to reduce patients’ access to certain services because of the high costs [...]

Bid to End Medicaid-funded Abortions Fails

In a controversial decision about a controversial practice, a judge in Kansas dismissed a lawsuit that would have forced the state to stop financing abortions for Medicaid beneficiaries. (Medical News Today) The case was unusual. The state attorney general in Kansas, Phill Kline, sued the governor and several other individuals in an effort to establish [...]

Putting a Bull’s Eye On Your Back & Liability Insurance

Bulls Eye Sid Rich with the Texas Association of Residential Care Communities is reporting in his newsletter that HB 850 has been introduced. The bill would mandate that nusing homes post signs indicating whether or not the facility carries liability insurance. The bill is pending in Committee. Sid Rich is concerned because he was the [...]

What About Tort Reform?

Dr. Charles alerts us to an archived editorial on tort reform published in the New York Times. Common Good excerpts the article here. The title of the article is It’s Time to Try Special Health Courts. Here’s the excerpt: We hold no brief for the current medical liability system, which does a poor job of [...]