Full Text of SR0621 97th General Assembly
SR0621 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Chicago Tribune investigative reports in the | 3 | | fall of 2009 identified severe problems in nursing homes that | 4 | | endangered residents; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The 96th General Assembly on May 7, 2010 passed | 6 | | Senate Bill 326 that included multiple provisions to improve | 7 | | safety in nursing homes; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, A key provision in the legislation was a statutory | 9 | | increase in the staffing ratios for nursing homes; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Governor Quinn signed Senate Bill 326 into law as | 11 | | Public Act 96-1372 with an effective date of July 29, 2010; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, The Office of the Attorney General has increased | 13 | | the enforcement of nursing home standards and the | 14 | | identification of criminals living in nursing homes; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, The 96th General Assembly on January 11, 2010 | 16 | | passed Senate Bill 3088 which created a new nursing home bed | 17 | | tax to increase funding to nursing homes in order to support | 18 | | the higher staffing ratios required by Public Act 96-1372 and | 19 | | in order to fund the State's increased enforcement activities; | 20 | | and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Governor Quinn signed Senate Bill 3088 as Public | 2 | | Act 96-1530 with an effective date of February 16, 2011; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Public Act 96-1530 did not contain any provisions | 4 | | directly linking the increased funding from the nursing home | 5 | | bed tax to higher standards or increased staffing; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, It is in the best interests of the citizens of | 7 | | Illinois to ensure that the safety provisions in Public Act | 8 | | 96-1372 are properly implemented and effective; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, It is in the best interests of the citizens of | 10 | | Illinois to ensure that the funding from the nursing home bed | 11 | | tax is being used to improve nursing home safety; therefore, be | 12 | | it
| 13 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL | 14 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Auditor General is | 15 | | directed to conduct a performance audit of the Department of | 16 | | Public Health and the Department of Healthcare and Family | 17 | | Services to assess those Departments' efforts to implement the | 18 | | provisions under Public Act 96-1372 and Public Act 96-1530; and | 19 | | be it further
| 20 | | RESOLVED, That the audit shall include, but not be limited |
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| 1 | | to, the following determinations: | 2 | | (1) An analysis of problem nursing homes identified | 3 | | either in press reports by the Office of the Attorney | 4 | | General or by the Department of Public Health that have had | 5 | | safety issues, and the status of resident care before and | 6 | | after the provisions of Public Act 96-1372 and Public Act | 7 | | 96-1530 became effective; and | 8 | | (2) An analysis of the amount of the increased Medicaid | 9 | | rates funded by the bed tax established under Public Act | 10 | | 96-1530 that are being used for meeting the new staffing | 11 | | requirements under Public Act 96-1372; and | 12 | | (3) An assessment of whether the increased Medicaid | 13 | | funding has led to improvements in the problem nursing | 14 | | homes; and | 15 | | (4) An analysis of the Department of Healthcare and | 16 | | Family Services' administration and implementation of the | 17 | | new bed tax as it relates to items (1), (2), and (3) above; | 18 | | and | 19 | | (5) An analysis of the Department of Public Health's | 20 | | implementation of the provisions under Public Act 96-1372; | 21 | | and | 22 | | (6) A review of the amounts from the new bed tax used | 23 | | to fund State nursing home regulation enforcement | 24 | | activities and community based services; and be it further
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That the Office of the Governor, the Office of | 2 | | the Attorney General, the Department of Public Health, the | 3 | | Department of Healthcare and Family Services, and any other | 4 | | entity having information relevant to this audit shall | 5 | | cooperate fully and promptly with the Auditor General in the | 6 | | conduct of this audit; and be it further | 7 | | RESOLVED, That the Auditor General commence this audit as | 8 | | soon as possible and report his or her findings and | 9 | | recommendations upon completion in accordance with the | 10 | | provisions of Section 3-14 of the Illinois State Auditing Act; | 11 | | and be it further | 12 | | RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be delivered to | 13 | | the Auditor General, the Governor, the Attorney General, the | 14 | | Department of Public Health, and the Department of Healthcare | 15 | | and Family Services.
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