End The Shame Campaign
Why is there so much neglect and abuse of residents in Indiana nursing homes? Because it is profitable! Ask most families and residents and they will tell you poor care isn't cited enough and penalties for violating resident protections are rare. It is time for a better, stronger vision for caring for our most vulnerable citizens. That is why United Senior Action leaders have launched the End The Shame Campaign. The Campaign is based on three tenets: We must put residents' needs first; We must demand good care; and We must punish abuse and neglect. Call or email United Senior Action (800-495-0872 or info@usaindiana.org) to learn how you can get involved. Put Residents FirstWe want to live in a home, not an institution. Dignity, independence and consumer choice should determine where and how we receive our care. * USA calls for radically changing our vision of nursing home care to focus on smaller, self-contained homes and we support designating a significant portion of Closure and Conversion Funds for this purpose. * USA supports designating a significant portion of Closure and Conversion Funds for the establishment of high quality, brain injury services in Indiana. * USA opposes forcing residents and their families to give up their constitutional rights by requiring binding arbitration as a condition of admission. * USA supports expanding options to enable consumers who do not need round-the-clock medical care to remain in or return to their own homes and communities. Demand Good CareGood care should be the standard, and providers of mediocre or poor care should not be rewarded. Our long term care system should reflect this. We must expect good care and accept nothing less. * USA calls for requiring more well-trained, well-supervised direct care staff who get to know residents’ preferences and needs. * USA supports allowing nursing homes that provide good care to receive higher Medicaid reimbursement. * USA calls for changes in our payment system that take into account resident and family feedback, quality measures, direct care staffing levels and staff turnover rates. Punish Abuse and NeglectThe voices of residents and families should be heard above all others. Stronger enforcement of our laws and regulation is what we need. If you provide bad care, the penalties should be swift, certain and severe. * USA calls for a stronger enforcement system and opposes any proposal to undercut the Indiana State Department of Health’s informal dispute resolution process for appealing deficiencies. * USA calls for banning from the industry any owner or administrator who allows residents to be abused and neglected in their facilities. * USA supports the federal Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act which increases
penalties and ends the shell-game facilities use to avoid responsibility for poor care. |
Indiana has 52 poorly performing homes, the most of any state in the nation!“Nursing Homes: CMS’s Special Focus Facility Methodology Should Better Target the Most Poorly Performing Homes, Which Tended to Be Chain Affiliated and For-Profit,” United States Government Accountability Office, August 2009Indiana among 10 worst states.
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Shame of Indiana Video
United Senior Action produced this video detailing the human cost of Indiana's nursing home understaffing crisis.
Don’t Make Victims of Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse Give Up Their Rights
What is Binding Arbitration?
Binding Mandatory Arbitration effectively amounts to “take-it-or-leave-it” conditions. The consumer essentially waives (often without his or her knowledge) the right to sue, or to participate in a class action lawsuit. By agreeing to binding mandatory arbitration, you give up your right to a day in court.
Arbitration for consumers is typically a losing battle. Arbitration is often more costly than going to court. Arbitration service providers are documented by studies to give biased rulings. It is a secret system of justice with virtually no rules and no evidence or records. Arbitrators are most often hired by providers that serve big businesses (repeat customers), not by any one individual (who may file one claim in a lifetime), and those arbitrators have a documented tendency to rule with the repeat customer and against the individual.
Mandatory arbitration agreements put the elderly and their families at an unfair disadvantage in the admissions process. Most cannot refuse to sign the agreement if they want to be admitted to the facility – and frequently they have little or no choice about which facility they enter. Admissions often occur after a medical emergency, such as a stroke or broken hip, and under pressure from hospital discharge planners to take the first available bed.