The Department of Health and Human Service this afternoon proposed a new nursing home ownership disclosure rule intended to make more clear ownership and management operations of facilities.
The rule also includes private equity and real estate investment trust definitions, which regulators said would set the stage for the disclosure of whether those types of owners or investors play a role in a specific nursing home, McKnights reports. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it would launch an updated nursing home enrollment application for public use this summer.
“CMS is committed to using every tool at our disposal to improve nursing home care and identify trends that enhance residents’ quality of life,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in a related statement. “If finalized, this rule would strengthen our ability to examine ownership types, including private equity and real estate investment trusts.”
The proposed rule would use part of the Affordable Care Act to require nursing homes enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid — the majority of US nursing homes — to disclose individuals or entities that provide administrative services or clinical consulting services to the nursing homes. Read more.
