News Article

Consumer Voice and Other Organizations Send Letter to Senate Leaders Opposing Immunity for Nursing Homes

June 03, 2020

On May 28, 2020, The Consumer Voice, along with over 250 organizations, sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer opposing any plan to grant nursing homes immunity from civil or criminal liability for harm or substandard care a resident may have suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter stated:

1. Judicial recourse discourages current and future bad practices by nursing homes and helps bring about positive outcomes for nursing home residents;

2. Currently, there is little oversight in nursing homes, as families, ombudsmen, and other agencies are prohibited from entering facilities.  Judicial recourse is the last remaining tool for residents to hold nursing homes accountable for substandard care;

3. The magnitude of the crisis in nursing homes is directly related to years of cost cutting and understaffing, in an effort to maximize profits for nursing home owners and operators.  To allow facilities to face no repercussions for these actions, while asking nursing home residents to pay with their lives, is a perverse outcome that cannot be tolerated.  

To date, over 35,000 residents of long-term care facilities have died in the United States.  That number will continue to grow.  Recourse to civil justice is one of the last remaining protections for residents. Removing this necessary protection will result in increased harm to residents and further deaths.  We want to send a message to Congress that we want more protections for nursing home residents and not less.  We must protect residents, as they are loved ones, neighbors, and fellow citizens.
The Consumer Voice wants to thank all of the organizations that signed on to the letter.  Read the letter »