Connecticut State Ombudsman, Mairead Painter, On Nursing Home Spending Transparency

January 30, 2023

Connecticut State Ombudsman, Mairead Painter, was interviewed on nursing home spending transparency. While some lawmakers and advocates are supportive of providing nursing homes with additional funds, many say greater transparency is needed to show exactly how managers are spending the money. Facility operators are required to submit annual cost reports that feature revenue, expenditure and balance sheet information, but Painter and others are calling for deeper explanations of the spending. As part of her legislative agenda this year, Painter asked lawmakers to mandate that nursing home managers turn in narrative summaries of expenditures, with explanations of many individual costs. She also recommended that the social services commissioner make the reports easily identifiable on the state website and include comparisons between the homes’ spending. In addition, Painter asked legislators to pass a bill forcing nursing homes to halt admissions if they don’t meet the minimum staffing requirement of three hours of direct care per resident per day.

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