Who looks out for aging Californians who do not have relatives our outside caregivers to keep an eye out for the signs of elder abuse? The California State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is in place to make sure that older adults receive proper care in long-term care facilities across the…
Is elder care in America working, or do we need a new system to ensure better nursing home quality of care for seniors? According to a recent article in Forbes, the system as it currently stands just is not working. Indeed, the author suggests that the disproportionate attention to caution…
Changes are on the way for nursing homes and California assisted living facilities. In the midst of shifts to the law, victims of nursing home abuse are filing a class action lawsuit against the owner of 57 skilled nursing facilities in the state, according to an article from Courthouse News…
New Bill Raises Penalties for Elder Abuse and Neglect Is the state of California taking seriously the problems with nursing home abuse and elder neglect at assisted-living facilities? According to a recent article in UT San Diego, Governor Jerry Brown just signed into law a bill that will impose “a…
A recent article in the Examiner alleges that Scott Phipps of Phisco Fiduciary committed elder abuse against a senior conservatee, Elinor Frerichs. Elder advocates argue that Scott Phipps kept Frerichs “confined and isolated” at Lakeside Park, her assisted living facility in Oakland. If true, the fiduciary may have violated the…
Many of us have heard about assisted living facility reforms pending before the California legislature, as well as those aimed specifically at residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs). But are those reforms sufficient to ensure that California seniors are safe from elder abuse? According to a recent story from KQED’s State of…
Senate Bill Could Impose Tougher Penalties With the serious elder abuse problems in residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs) that have been coming to light in recent months, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to California residents that a new senate bill aims to “give California regulators the power…
Profiting from Bad Hospice Ethics Last week, we discussed a recent phenomenon in the hospice care industry that’s quickly becoming an elder abuse concern. Specifically, hospice—a form of care designed to allow “patients to die at home or in other familiar surroundings,” according to an article in the Washington Post—has…
A few days ago, Los Angeles’ local ABC 10 News released an article about the Ensign Group’s agreement to a $48 million settlement related to claims of Medicare billing fraud at six nursing facilities in Southern California. And the Medicare fraud wasn’t the worst of it. According to the article,…
Assisted living facilities are licensed as Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly, and are generally thought of as living environments for people who need help with one or more activities of daily living, but are otherwise pretty healthy. In fact, the regulations covering RCFEs are designed with this in mind.…