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Legislators Consider Nursing Home Regulations
By Bobby Harrison, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
October 19, 2005
Rep. Jamie Franks of Mooreville says he hopes a hearing scheduled for today sheds more light on whether state regulation of Mississippi nursing homes is sufficient.
The issue of regulation has come to the forefront, Franks said, because large chains are buying nursing homes throughout the United States. In one case, the sale is pending of the Fort Smith, Ark.-based Beverly Enterprises, which owns three nursing homes in Northeast Mississippi, according to the Arkansas News Bureau.
Franks, a Democrat, said he is concerned that under current law a company can buy the license to operate a nursing home without the state's conducting a thorough investigation of the purchasing company.
"This is important because we want to protect our most vulnerable citizens," Franks said. "And we want to protect taxpayer money. About 90 percent of the patients in nursing homes in Mississippi have their care paid by Medicaid."
Medicaid is a state-federal program that pays for health care for low income elderly, disabled and poor mothers and children.
Increasingly troubled'
At this afternoon's hearing at the state Capitol, Franks said he hopes to hear suggestions on how to improve the oversight of nursing homes from the Department of Health, which is the state agency responsible for monitoring nursing homes.
Franks said he was given authority to hold the hearing by House Public Health Committee chairman Steve Holland, D-Plantersville. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Percy Watson, D-Hattiesburg, also will participate in the hearings.
"We have become increasingly troubled by a trend that may seriously affect nursing home residents in Mississippi," said Watson.
Franks and Watson said they are concerned about reports of large real estate companies buying the nursing homes and stripping them of their assets.
In Arkansas, state legislators held at least two contentious hearings on the potential impact of Beverly's pending sale to a New York-based company.
The hearings ended abruptly when a majority of the legislators participating opted not to continue because of the potential negative publicity for the publicly traded company and the possible impact on the sale, according to the Arkansas News Bureau.
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