The new rule designates state inspectors and Medicare and Medicaid contractors as Federal employees. Federal employees are usually shielded from providing evidence for either side in private litigation. This new restriction will affect abou 16,000 nursing facilities and 3 million residents in the US.
The Practical effect of this rule is to force attorneys to go to greater lengths to get inspection reports or depositions for cases. "This Change hurts nursing-home residents and their families by allowing bad practices to be kept in secret by nursing homes and inspectors," said Eric M. Carlson, an attorney with the National Senior Citizens Law Center in Los Angeles. "Government inspectors have the right to go into nursing homes and investigate. and they learn things that residents and families otherwise could never find out."
The new rule generally prohibits state health departments and contractors from participating in pricate lawsuits involving facilities that are in the federal assistance program without approval by the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Once fairly routine, the request for information is now stalled between federal and state officials.
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