The inability to gain access to important information about nursing home organizations is a struggle presented to the public today. An important factor that the public may have difficulty finding is if a nursing home is a private equity organization. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was put into place to require nursing homes to publish more in-depth information on who their owners are. However, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) never set in place regulations to implement this law. This prevents the public from seeing information that should be disclosed. For example, only 7 of 13 private equity firms are shown in the federal ownership database. Evidence has shown that private equity firms offer less quality care than non-private equity firms. Could this be why they are keeping this information from us? You want your loved one to receive the best care possible, but this may be difficult if the necessary information is concealed.
Private equity organizations are funded by borrowed money which creates debt for the organization. This presents a risk in terms of costs and affording resources needed to properly care for the patients. This directly affects the quality of care that the residents receive. Private investors are also not required to file detailed financial reports, so it may be difficult to see if a private equity organization is struggling financially. These resources necessary include caring staff and according to a 2007 New York Times article, 60% of homes bought by large equity groups have cut staffing, sometimes below the level required by the law. This could lead to neglect and deficient care. Evidence was presented in a 2021 National Bureau of Economic Research paper stating that, “PE ownership increases the short-term mortality of Medicare patients by 10 percent”. This is a scary statistic and proves that knowing nursing homes’ ownership is crucial when placing a loved one in an organization to receive quality care. Could your loved one be in a private equity-owned home? Could they be receiving substandard care? Call DLP today; our team wants to help you! (570) C-A-L-L-D-L-P.
