About 1.5 million Americans now live in 15,600 nursing homes. And at least another 10 million Americans, mostly people 65 or older, need long-term services and support to help them with daily activities. As our baby boom generation ages, perhaps 30 million more Americans will either choose or be forced to seek long term care in the near future. Medicaid helps states provide nursing home care for many of these people. Nursing homes and community-based settings such as assisted-living facilities provide registered nurses, licensed rehabilitation therapists, and home health aides employed by certified agencies. Home healthcare services may also be delivered to the homes of elderly, disabled or ill persons in need of medical, nursing, social or therapeutic treatment.

However, nursing homes also pose a risk to their residents. Studies have shown there are, on average, about 2 million infections contracted by residents in these facilities each year. Infections have been associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality, rehospitalization, extended hospital stay and substantial healthcare expenses. Emerging infections and antibiotic-resistant organisms thrive in places where there is an overuse of antibiotics and the population is older, frailer and sicker. The most common nursing home infections are urinary tract infections, respiratory tract infections and skin infections.

Proposed Legislation: S.3380 - Patient Safety Improvement Act of 2020
Prospective Sponsor: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)