| Page 2 of 2 < |
Illness, Race Tied In Study Of Care
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
The Brown study focused on Medicaid policies, the racial composition of nursing homes and the risk of hospitalization for white and black residents. It concluded that disparities could be eliminated by providing more resources to Medicaid-reliant nursing homes.
"The percentage of residents who had to be hospitalized was strongly correlated with the residents on Medicaid, which also was strongly tied to facilities with limited resources," said Andrea Gruneir, the study's lead author.
Laura Nichols, director of the Northern Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, said she was not aware of any complaints to her office about hospitalization rates.
Consumer advocates said that the system favors people who can afford to pay for private nursing home care.
"Nursing homes in this country have a serious deficiency in quality, and studies have shown African Americans are more likely to get the worst care," said Janet Wells, director of public policy for the District-based National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reform. "We think it's a civil rights issue."
However, Wells and other consumer advocates said a high rate of Medicaid recipients doesn't always determine the quality of care.
"A lot of nursing homes with Medicaid residents are good nursing homes," Wells said. "We see them all over the country."
