Mary Ousley, past chair of the American Health Care Association, which represents long term care providers, testified before a congressional committee last week about the long term care profession’s experience with the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA ‘87).
OBRA ’87 is considered landmark legislation because it established many nursing home oversight rules in place today. Ousley said that in order to improve nursing facilities, providers, regulators, and consumers must cooperate in the process.
“What we have is a system that defines ‘success’ and quality in a regulatory context that is often measured by the level of fines levied and the violations tallied – not by the quality of care, or quality of life,†Ousley said. “The statute envisioned a resident-centered, outcome-oriented, consistent system of oversight. Unfortunately the system we have today bears little resemblance to that vision.â€
In response to the growing concern over long term care quality, lawmakers introduced a bill called the Long Term Care Quality and Modernization Act of 2006. Ousley believes this measure will help improve quality of care and encourage cooperation.
Source: American Health Care Association
