On April 27, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that a group of New York long-term care facilities can challenge a Department of Health and Human Services administrative rule in federal court if it believes it violates the law. According to a summary by McKnight’s Long-Term Care News,
“The providers are challenging a regulation codified by HHS in 2017 that no longer makes it a requirement for survey teams to include a registered nurse while conducting inspections of the nursing home.
An administrative law judge ruled that an RN must be present since it was a requirement of the Medicaid Act. HHS in 2017 countered the ruling by establishing a final rule stating that certain compliance surveys didn’t require an RN’s participation, court documents explained. Prior to the ruling… providers could challenge federal rulemaking only by appealing survey findings, which can be an expensive process and hasn’t proven in the past to be an effective challenge.”
– Danielle Brown, “Federal Court Opens Door for Nursing Homes to Challenge Medicare, Medicaid Rules” 4/30/21
It is important that you know your rights and know the process to follow when you are in disagreement with survey findings. It is much easier to roll over and move on, however if we are held to the “rules” so should any agency who comes into our centers to evaluate our performance. Read the entire court case here, talk to your associations, and get the information you need to arm yourself with current, reliable avenues.
Stay well, mask up indoors, and stay tuned!