For the past three years, this Committee has been engaged in trying to make sure that the Health Care Financing Administration and the state survey agencies effectively carry out this initiative and thus enforce the standards of care requirements for nursing homes required by the Act. Our working assumption has been that effective enforcement of the Act will lead to improvements in the quality of care for residents. Today, we will hear that, although some successes have been achieved, problems remain. So it is also clear from testimony we will receive today that sustained efforts from HCFA and the next Administration will be essential if the Nursing Home Initiative is to be successful. I hope that we will be able to turn a corner on improving quality of care in nursing homes with sustained efforts from HCFA and the states.
Enforcement is one of the keys.
We also hope to hear suggestions for other ways care in nursing facilities might be improved, in addition to improvements in enforcement of the Nursing Home Reform Act, that we and HCFA can consider as we continue our efforts to assure quality care in the nation's nursing homes. We rely on the many good-hearted and dedicated people working in nursing homes to provide valuable quality care. Concerns have been raised about the work of state agencies. We will hear today that state agencies are not able to live up to their obligations to survey every nursing home on an average of every 12 months. We will hear that they are unable to carry out the Nursing Home Initiative that requires complaints to be investigated within 10 days.