Nursing Home Watch Group Gives Pennsylvania Failing Grade

The nursing home resident advocacy group Families for Better Care has said that Pennsylvania has been downgraded on its nursing home quality ratings. Pennsylvania started at a C, and was downgraded to a D. The most recent report has not yet been published, but Families for Better Care says the Commonwealth will receive an F. The big difference between states that receive good grades and states that receive bad grades is staffing. That’s because more staffing typically means fewer problems slip through the cracks. ABC27 compared staffing in Pennsylvania to staffing in Florida, a state Families for Better Care has given A’s. Pennsylvania law requires 2.7 hours of direct care per resident, per day. Florida requires 3.6 hours — that’s the national average. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recommends 4.1 hours.

Source/more: ABC27 
Check out FBC’s state-by-state nursing home ratings

David Wingate is an elder law attorney at the Elder Law Office of David Wingate, LLC. The elder law office services clients with powers of attorneys, living wills, Wills, Trusts, Medicaid and asset protection. The Elder Law office has locations in Frederick and Montgomery Counties, Maryland.