The COVID-19 response at nursing homes in several states could face additional scrutiny after several Republican lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee called for a Congressional hearing to see if residents’ civil rights were violated due to controversial pandemic-related policies.
The request from the lawmaker group, which included the committee’s ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-IA), stems from controversial orders enacted by New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan and New Jersey that providers said forced facilities to take in COVID-19 patients.
“These four states pressured nursing homes to accept patients with active COVID-19 infections who were being discharged from hospitals at the height of the pandemic,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter Friday.
“Moreover, these states did so despite directions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that hospitals should not discharge patients with a COVID-19 diagnosis to a long-term care facility unless ;the selected long-term care facility [is] able to safely care for a patient recovering from the virus by implementing all recommended infection control procedures.’ By discharging patients to long-term care facilities, the states likely increased the case rate or fatality risks for nursing homes,” they added.
The group also wants to investigate if the states lied about their COVID-19 deaths and if the Department of Justice is “thoroughly and impartially” investigating the matters.
The DOJ in late July announced that it would not be opening civil rights investigations into New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan about their state orders and number of nursing home deaths, while an investigation into New Jersey’s policies are ongoing.
New York is also still facing a federal probe after the state withheld COVID nursing home death data out of fear it would be used against them. Incoming Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) vowed Sunday to fully cooperate with the investigation.
“We need to understand what happened and the extent to which these states violated federal law, the lawmakers wrote. “Grieving families deserve more than silence from this Committee: They deserve answers and accountability.”
