July marked the 50th anniversary of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, the primary funders of more than 15,000 nursing homes in the U.S. The White House’s Department of Health and Human Services used the moment to propose a major overhaul to the requirements for nursing homes to qualify for Medicare and Medicaid payments.
It’s not the first national action proposed to improve the quality of care elderly citizens receive in nursing homes. Government agencies and professional organizations have attempted to do that by proposing legislation and launching initiatives for years.
