BOSTON – House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading), State Representative Richard M. Haggerty (D-Woburn) and State Senator Jason M. Lewis (D-Winchester) expressed their strong support for the state’s new long-term care reform law, saying it will help protect vulnerable patients by providing for stronger licensing and oversight requirements, periodic site inspections, and expanded workforce training.
House Bill 5033, An Act to improve quality and oversight of long-term care, was recently finalized by a six-member legislative conference committee, which worked to resolve the differences between earlier versions of the bill that were approved unanimously by the House on November 15 and by the Senate on July 25. The bill was signed into law earlier this month as Chapter 197 of the Acts of 2024.
House Bill 5033 incorporates several of the reforms recommended in the 2020 report filed by the Nursing Facility Task Force, which was charged with “evaluating ways to ensure the financial stability of skilled nursing facilities; considering the role of skilled nursing facilities within the continuum of elder care services; and addressing current workforce challenges.”
“When a family member is placed in a long-term care facility, their loved ones have every right to expect that they will be safe and will receive the care and services they need,” said Representative Jones. “These new reforms will hold the industry to higher standards while implementing safeguards to ensure that patients in nursing homes, assisted living residences, and other long-term care facilities are properly cared for and protected from harm.”
“When entrusting loved ones to long-term care facilities, families deserve peace of mind that their family members will receive high-quality, compassionate care in a safe environment,” said Representative Haggerty. “This reform bill implements important measures to elevate industry standards, enhance oversight, and invest in our healthcare workforce, demonstrating our commitment to ensuring safety and quality care for our loved ones.”
“We should do everything possible to ensure that seniors and individuals with disabilities who reside in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are getting high-quality care at all times,” said Senator Lewis. “I’m proud that the Legislature has passed this important and comprehensive legislation.”
Under the new law, applicants will be required to disclose their civil litigation history and to demonstrate their financial capacity to establish or maintain and operate a long-term care facility before being licensed. It also extends protections against retaliation for employees who file a complaint or provide information to the Department of Public Health (DPH) on specific violations or potential risks to public health, while expanding the Attorney General’s powers to hold long-term care facilities accountable for abusing, mistreating, or neglecting their patients.
In addition to extending the statute of limitations governing the filing of civil charges from two years to four years, the new law also increases existing financial penalties five-fold, with fines rising from $5,000 to $25,000 in cases where no bodily injury results; from $10,000 to $50,000 when bodily injury results; from $20,000 to $100,000 in cases involving sexual assault or serious bodily injury; and from $50,000 to $250,000 if the patient dies.
The new law calls for 50 percent of the civil fines collected by the Attorney General for incidents involving patient abuse or neglect to be deposited into a new Long-Term Care Workforce and Capital Fund, which will be used to support the recruitment and retention of a long-term care workforce, including Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs), training for direct care workers to become Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), and long-term care supervisory and leadership training. Funds will also be made available as zero-interest or forgivable loans to support capital improvements at long-term care facilities, including the development of specialized care units.
The new law also enhances DPH’s ability to monitor long-term care facilities and to act quickly whenever violations occur. All long-term care facilities will now be subject to at least one resident-centered inspection per year to determine the quality of services provided at the facility and its compliance with all state and federal requirements. DPH will have the power to modify, suspend or revoke a license for cause and to appoint temporary managers to help bring facilities into compliance with acceptable standards.
To prevent and contain infectious disease outbreaks among patients, Chapter 197 also requires all nursing homes and other long-term care facilities in Massachusetts to develop a customized outbreak response plan. This response plan must set clear policies for testing protocols; isolating infected and at-risk patients; notifying residents, their families, visitors and staff about any contagious disease outbreaks; implementing outbreak response measures; and notifying public health officials of any outbreaks that occur.
The new law also creates several task forces and commissions to study various aspects of the long-term care industry, including:
- a task force to review the viability and sustainability of long-term care facilities in the Commonwealth;
- a task force to evaluate the governance and regulatory structure of rest homes in Massachusetts;
- a commission to ensure that assisted living residences adequately meet residents’ health and safety needs; and
- a task force to study and propose recommendations to address acute care hospital throughput challenges and the impact of persistent delays in discharging patients from acute to post-acute care settings
