Maine Attorney General Joins Other State AGs in Request for more SNF Ownership Information

• By: Angela Westhoff
• On: 04/20/2023 15:14:05
• In: Legislative/Government Affairs

According this McKnight's article, the attorneys general from a diverse group of states have thrown their support behind a federal proposal to increase public reporting of nursing home ownership and related party information, saying the current reporting standard “hampers law enforcement efforts to address substandard care.”
 
The 18 AGs, all considered the chief law enforcement officials for their states, expressed support for the transparency rule in a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. The letter, publicized this week, was submitted on April 14, ahead of the end of the rule's formal comment period.
 
The effort was led by New York Attorney General Letitia James and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and co-signed by the AGs in Arizona, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
 
The letter cites challenges related to identifying and holding accountable those owners whose roles or financial interest had been concealed from the public. Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association, has called the agency's focus on private equity ownership “a red herring,” noting that such investors are involved in less than 5% of nursing homes. REITs account for about 12%, but Parkinson has said they typically have no influence on daily operations.
 
Staff contact: awesthoff@mehca.org