An Act To Clarify Inspection Requirements for Hospitals and Certain Nursing Facilities
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1849
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: MEYER
Amends: 22 MRSA §1816

Legislative Document
No. 1849
H.P. 1370
House of Representatives, December 22, 2021
An Act To Clarify Inspection Requirements for Hospitals and 
Certain Nursing Facilities
Submitted by the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 203.
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 20, 2021.  Referred to the Committee on 
Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint 
Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative MEYER of Eliot.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §1816, as amended by PL 2021, c. 398, Pt. MM, §1, is repealed 
and the following enacted in its place:
§1816.  Inspections
1. Inspection requirements. Every building, institution or establishment for which a 
license has been issued must be periodically inspected by duly appointed representatives 
of the Office of MaineCare Services under the rules adopted by the department. An 
institution licensed pursuant to this chapter may not be required to be licensed or inspected 
under the laws of this State relating to hotels, restaurants, lodging houses, boardinghouses 
and places of refreshments. A license may not be issued until the applicant has furnished 
the department with a written statement signed by the Commissioner of Public Safety or 
the proper municipal official designated in Title 25, chapters 313 to 321 to make fire safety 
inspections that the home and premises comply with Title 25, chapters 313 to 321 relating 
to fire safety. The department shall establish and pay reasonable fees to the municipal 
official or the Commissioner of Public Safety for each such inspection. This written 
statement must be furnished prior to licensure. 
2. Accredited hospitals. A hospital licensed under this chapter is exempt from 
department inspection requirements under this chapter if:
A. The hospital is certified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for 
participation in the federal Medicare program and holds full accreditation status by a 
health care facility accrediting organization recognized by the Centers for Medicare 
and Medicaid Services; and
B. The hospital provides a copy of the survey findings of the health care facility 
accrediting organization described in paragraph A, including a statement of 
deficiencies, and the hospital's final plan of correction for any identified deficiencies 
that is accepted by the health care facility accrediting organization.
3. Nonaccredited hospitals. If a hospital is certified to participate in the federal 
Medicare program and is not accredited by a health care facility accrediting organization 
recognized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the department shall 
inspect the hospital every 3 years for compliance with the Centers for Medicare and 
Medicaid Services' conditions of participation. 
4. Hospitals not exempt. The provisions of subsections 2 and 3 do not exempt a 
hospital from an inspection by the department in response to a complaint or suspected 
violation of this chapter or of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' conditions 
of participation or an inspection by another state agency or municipality for building code, 
fire code, life safety code or other purposes unrelated to health care facility licensing or 
accreditation. 
For purposes of this section, "Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services" means the 
United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and 
Medicaid Services.   
SUMMARY
This bill removes the requirement for nursing facilities providing both nursing home 
and assisted living services to receive a single coordinated licensing and fire code 
inspection. Nursing home services inspections occur at varied intervals between 9 and 15 
months apart based on a facility's performance with the United States Department of Health 
and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' conditions of 
participation, while assisted living services inspections occur on a 2-year cycle and are 
required prior to issuance of full licensure, making the requirement in current law not 
feasible.
The bill provides that a hospital is exempt from inspection by the Maine Department 
of Health and Human Services if it submits to the department a copy of its accreditation 
survey results completed by a health care facility accrediting organization, including a 
statement of any deficiencies and corresponding plan of correction.