Statement on Independent Commission to Address Safety & Quality in Nursing Homes

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently announced the creation of an independent commission to address safety & quality in nursing homes, that will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the nursing home response to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Center for Elder Law & Justice welcomes the commission and are pleased to see resident advocates and families as members. We hope that the commission would include nursing home residents, in addition to advocates and families, and that they have an active role in the commission. However, the commission is too little too late to help the thousands who have died during the pandemic due to government inaction and active reduction of resident protections that occurred prior to the pandemic. CMS and the Administration have been rolling back vital nursing home regulations and enforcement actions since January 2017, most recently this past summer when they proposed to reduce necessary infection control and prevention regulations that were "too burdensome." Resident safety can never be considered a burden.

Lindsay Heckler, Esq., MPH

Lindsay Heckler is the Policy Director at Center for Elder Law & Justice, where she manages the agency’s response to nursing home and long-term care policies and regulations; as well as other issues that impact older adults and vulnerable populations. She is the legal liaison for the partnership between the Center for Elder Law & Justice and People Inc.’s NYS Region 15 Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, and is a certified ombudsman. In her roles as legal liaison and ombudsman, Ms. Heckler is an advocate and resource for information pertaining to long term care issues for residents in nursing homes, adult homes, and their families. Lindsay was previously Associate Compliance Counsel for a Medicare Compliance Company, assisting clients in navigating the CMS system, policy initiatives and appeals procedures. Lindsay graduated from the University of Rochester in 2007, University at Buffalo School of Law in 2010, and the University at Buffalo School of Public Health & Health Professions in 2011.

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Testimony to the NYS Legislature

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CELJ Statement on Nursing Home Care