I read the story about nursing home industry representatives being concerned about recent increases in their insurance rates and as a lawyer who represents victims of nursing home abuse, and the likely reference as one of those “attorneys (from Florida)”, I would like an opportunity to respond.

The people interviewed in the story who spoke on behalf of nursing home owners seemed perplexed by the recent rise in insurance rates and essentially pointed the blame at residents and the lawyers who represent them. These industry representatives, who may indeed run fine homes themselves, need look no further than their industry brethren to find the source of their problems.

Let me explain.

Exactly one year ago, the U.S. Congress released a devastating report showing that 85% of homes in Oklahoma “violated federal health and safety standards”. The report also found that nearly one out of every six homes was putting residents in “immediate jeopardy” and “had caused actual harm to residents or placed them at risk of death or serious injury”. And what makes these numbers even more shocking is that they are most likely “understated”. (These figures come, ironically, amidst a multi-year scandal where state regulators were being paid huge kickbacks to turn a blind eye to resident suffering. Additionally, two separate U.S. General Accounting Office reports recently found that abuse of the elderly in nursing homes is dramatically under-reported and often covered up.)

I would venture that these widespread incidents of abuse and neglect along with the kickback scandal have given insurers adequate reasons to raise rates.

Can anyone blame insurers for being scared to death of writing coverage for an industry that is plagued with corruption and widespread neglect of residents?

If the inference coming from industry representatives is that “tort reform” will somehow bring down those rates, they'll need to reconsider. Oklahoma already has some of the strictest anti-resident laws in the country. The answer to the industry's dilemma of increasing insurance rates begins and ends with the quality of care. Bad care leads to injuries and injuries lead to lawsuits. And these lawsuits, I can assure you, are not “based on gaps or bookkeeping errors” but are based upon the very same things ­– “death and serious injury” – that have now been chronicled in multiple government reports.

In conclusion, I sympathize with owners who run good homes and are being forced to pay higher insurance rates to cover the losses of bad homes. Stripping residents of their rights through “tort reform” will not fix this problem, nor will it, improve care. However, and in addition to improving care, we should work to find a way to prevent insurers from making good homes pay for the sins of bad ones. That might be a better place to start.

Jim Wilkes is the founding partner of Wilkes & McHugh, P.A. a Tampa, Florida based firm that represents nursing home residents and their families in numerous states.

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