Reps. John B. Larson (D-CT) and Peter T. King (R-NY) plan to introduce the Nursing Home Fire Safety Act of 2005 in Washington D.C. today.

The bill is an effort to increase the installation of automatic sprinklers in facilities. Federal law requires sprinklers in new facilities but not older ones. It is estimated that more than 20% of nursing homes do not have sprinklers.

Following deadly fires in Hartford, CT, and Nashville, TN, in 2003, the Government Accountability Office issued a report criticizing fire safety standards in nursing homes and recommending sprinklers.

So far, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services does not require sprinklers. Instead, it mandates that existing facilities minimally install battery-operated smoke alarms.