"I am very pleased by HHS's announcement that they will post nursing home complaint violations on the Nursing Home Compare web site," said Waxman. "Families need to have access to the full compliance history of nursing homes so they can make good decisions for loved ones. The posting of this data is a significant step forward."
Grassley said, "I appreciate the agency's interest in improving consumer information about nursing homes. As our nation ages, more and more families will need nursing homes for their relatives. Families will welcome this new tool to help them pick a good nursing home."
In February 2002, Waxman and Grassley released a report that found that the HHS web site did not include information on violations found during complaint inspections of nursing homes. The report found that, as a result of this problem, information on thousands of serious violations was not available on the Nursing Home Compare web site, potentially misleading families about nursing home conditions. When the report was released, Waxman and Grassley wrote to Scully to urge that the information be added to the site.
Note: Interested reporters can obtain the report and correspondence between Waxman and Grassley and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on the Committee on Government Reform Democratic web site at www.house.gov/reform/min.