More than 15% of nursing homes listed as participants or candidates for an intensive quality monitoring program have mortgages backed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a New York Times analysis found this week.
The report follows the disclosure last month that HUD’s nursing home mortgage program suffered a $146 million loss when Rosewood Care Centers defaulted. Officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said about 10% of facilities in its Special Focus Facilities program are ultimately forced to close because of chronic underperformance — meaning HUD could be hit with other significant losses.
In all, 74 facilities nationwide have both HUD support and documented patterns of “poor care” that qualify them for additional improvement requirements under the Special Focus initiative. Special Focus Facility candidates have recently come under scrutiny.
“That dozens of taxpayer-backed homes appeared on the list reflects the federal government’s spotty history of monitoring for-profit nursing homes that can use the housing agency’s backing to obtain more favorable terms from lenders,” The Times reported.
But advocates for the long-term care industry say the intersection between lending practices and quality performance isn’t as broad as the newspaper’s report makes it seem.
The American Health Care Association noted that nationwide, about 15% of all nursing homes are backed by HUD’s mortgage insurance program. The number with HUD support on the Special Focus list is in line with that national statistic.
“This list singles out a small percentage that have struggled in one way or another to meet the standard all our members aim toward,” David Gifford, M.D., AHCA’s senior vice president of Quality and Regulatory Affairs and Chief Medical Officer. “We will continue to work with all stakeholders to advance policies that lead to more positive patient outcomes, as that is our primary concern.”
