Harrowing blame game over COVID-19 toll in nursing homes

WASHINGTON — A grim blame game with partisan overtones is breaking out over COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents, a tiny slice of the population that represents a shockingly high proportion of Americans who have perished in the pandemic. Advocates for older people say the federal government hasn’t provided needed virus testing and sufficient protective gear to allow nursing homes to operate safely. “We need a plan from CMS and we need resources to stop the spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes,” says Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa. Nationwide, more than 45,500 residents and staff have died from coronavirus outbreaks at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, according to a running count by The Associated Press. A since-rescinded state directive that nursing homes had to accept recovering coronavirus patients “ended up being a death sentence” in New York and several states with similar policies, Scalise said. He echoed earlier, less forceful, comments from CMS head Verma, who has said state orders requiring nursing homes to take recovering COVID patients were “not appropriate” and “may have contributed to this issue as well.” But Harvard researcher David Grabowski, who serves on a nonpartisan commission advising Congress about Medicare, says neither state policies, nor “bad apples” among nursing homes, have driven the outbreak.