Dems say delays caused high nursing home deaths
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration was slow to comprehend the scale of COVID-19’s impact on nursing homes and a disjointed federal response has only compounded the devastating toll, according to a report from Senate Democrats.
Wednesday’s report found a lack of coordination among government agencies hindered access to coronavirus testing and protective equipment, among other problems.
“Unfortunately for the nation, it is a chronicle of deadly delay, and a lack of urgency, and the lack of a strategy,” said Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, ranking Democrat on the Aging Committee. “What we see in the way the administration handled this reflects the administration’s failure in responding to the pandemic generally.”
Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., joined in the report.
Seema Verma, the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the lead federal agency on nursing homes, defended the administration’s record.
“The report is disingenuous,” Verma said . “I think the agency has had a historic and unprecedented response and should be commended for its efforts.”
Verma cited numerous agency alerts and guidance documents directed to nursing homes. CMS also said it has redoubled emphasis on inspections for infection control.
Republican lawmakers suggested at least part of the blame lies with several Democratic governors who required nursing homes in their states to accept recovering coronavirus patients.
Statistics reported by nursing homes to the federal government as of June 14 showed nearly 30,800 residents have died, according to an AP analysis. Some news organizations have reported higher numbers. An AP count that includes nursing homes and other long-term care facilities found nearly 52,500 deaths, combining residents and staff.
The report, prepared by Democratic Senate staff, found that:
It took the administration several months – until early May – to require that nursing homes report data on coronavirus cases and deaths to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and CMS. The data remains incomplete, the report said, because it lacks demographic details and might not include cases early in the pandemic.
Urgent recommendations from the White House and guidance from CMS to test nursing home residents and staff did not translate to uniform results on the ground because there was no system in place to guarantee the availability of tests and supplies.
A FEMA initiative launched at the end of April to distribute supplies to nursing homes involved unnecessary delays, delivered faulty and unusable personal protective equipment to some locations, and initially left other facilities off the distribution list, though they appeared to be eligible.
Although Congress allocated $175 billion in emergency funding for health care facilities and service providers, nursing homes appear to have received a relatively small share, delivered in recent weeks. An initial $4.9 billion was provided in late May, and more money was sent out this month, in a distribution geared to facilities serving Medicaid patients.