Resident Rights
Nursing Home Resident Rights
Federal and state law require nursing homes provide high-quality care. The law protects residents who complain from retaliation by the nursing home and prohibits discrimination based on the source of payment. When facilities violate these rights, residents can file complaints with a variety of state and federal agencies. If found in violation of the law, nursing homes, their owners and administrators can be fined, have their licenses suspended or revoked, and lose their right to payments by Medicaid or Medicare
Federal Laws Protecting Nursing Home Residents
The federal government first began regulating nursing homes when it created Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. These standards were update in 1987 and 1997 in the Omnimbus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA). The legislature wanted to ensure our elderly had dignity, choice, and self-determination while in nursing homes. All nursing homes are required to “provide services and activities to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident in accordance with a written care of plan that … in initially prepared, with participation, to the extent practiable, of the resident, the resident’s family, or legal representative.” This means your family member should not decline in health or well-being as a result of the way a nursing home provides care.
Georgia Laws Protecting Residents’ Rights
Georgia passed its Bill of Rights 6 years before the federal one. It is known as the Bill of Rights for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities and can be found in the statutes at O.C.G.A. § 31-8-126. The legistlare starts the law by saying that the find “persons residing within long-term care facilities are isolated from the community and often lack the means to assert fully their rights as individual citizens.” Unlike the federal rights, Georgia’s creates a cause of action (authority to sue if the right is trampled) and does not require a resident exhaust administrative remedies first. I have uploaded the complete (17 pages) Bill of Rights for Nursing Home Residents in Georgia for you to read.
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GEORGIA RESOURCES
- Georgia Council on Aging
- Georgia Council of Community Ombudsmen
- Georgia Office of Regulatory Services: Long-Term Care
- Georgia's Long Term-Care Ombudsmen Program