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Consumer Voice Submits Statement for Record for Senate Committee on Finance Hearing on COVID-19 in Nursing Homes

March 30, 2021

Consumer Voice submitted a statement for the record for the March 17, 2021 Senate Committee on Finance hearing "A National Tragedy: COVID-19 in the Nations' Nursing Homes."  The statement emphasized the over 130,000 nursing home residents who died from COVID-19 and the countless others who suffered from isolation and neglect.

Consumer Voice urges Congress to:

  • Initiate an investigation into the devastating impact of COVID-19 on nursing home residents.  
  • Support nursing home staff by requiring minimum staffing standards, training, and increased wages and benefits.
  • Require the rescission of all waivers of nursing home regulations established during the Public Health Emergency.
  • Ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines for all residents and staff who choose to be vaccinated.
  • Ensure protection from COVID-19 for residents and staff by ensuring ongoing access to PPE and testing.
  • Fully restore visitation in nursing homes.
  • Reinstate standard and complaint surveys and strengthen regulations and enforcement.
  • Require transparency and accountability around nursing home ownership and finances.
  • Address disparities in care for racial and ethnic minorities.
  • Expand choice through the expansion of Medicaid Home and Community Based Services.

Many of these recommendations have been made by advocates for years.  Congress must act immediately not only to prevent the next crisis but to increase the quality of care in nursing homes for current and future generations.

Read the full letter.

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