Citing evidence that thousands of nursing home patients diagnosed with psychiatric illnesses are receiving inadequate care, the Illinois House voted overwhelmingly Friday to require stricter standards and, for the first time, to mandate specialized training for nurses and aides.
Prompted by a three-part series published last year in the Tribune, the proposal requires the state to provide and enforce the same level of care for nursing home patients as received by patients in state institutions.
Under state regulations, the state is not required to provide mental health services for nursing home patients.
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“We’ve found mentally ill patients in nursing homes with nothing to do,” said state Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie), chairman of the Select House Committee on Mental Health and Patient Abuse and the House sponsor of the legislation.
The reform package passed the House 114-0 and now heads to the Senate. It could face some opposition, but Republican mental health advocates in the GOP-led upper chamber already are considering backing it.
The reform package tries to address problems by requiring that every resident with a mental illness get the same care he or she would get in a state institution.
It directs the Department of Public Health and the Department of Human Services to develop licensing standards for nursing homes that house mentally ill or developmentally disabled people.
And in an effort to make the inspector general more independent, the plan proposes separating the inspector’s budget from that of the Department of Human Services.
The proposal would clear up some important questions, experts said.
“Part of the problem has been who is responsible for overseeing the facilities,” said Mark Heyrman, president of the board for the Mental Health Association in Illinois. “The answer has been, up to now, just the Department of Public Health. And they really do not have staff trained to determine whether or not a facility is providing appropriate services for mental illness.”
After the nursing home industry objected to parts of the bill, Lang negotiated changes late in the week.
As a result, the package now requires that the Department of Human Services establish specific standards for how nursing homes diagnose and treat mentally ill patients. The nursing home industry has removed its objections to the measure.
Human Services officials say they don’t have a position on the bill, but sources say the agency has voiced concerns about the potential costs, especially the expense of training employees to provide mental health care.
Rail safety: In response to last week’s fatal train wreck in Bourbonnais, several House Republicans on Friday called for the creation of a Railroad Safety Task Force to examine rail crossing safety. It would also review what type of punitive action should be taken against those who cause accidents.
Tax breaks: Also Friday, the Illinois Senate voted to speed up the income tax break that lawmakers decided last year to phase in over three years. Now, they might do it in two years.
The personal income tax exemption will increase from $1,000 to $2,000. That will ultimately mean a $30 annual savings, or $120 for a family of four.
Y2K: The House voted for legislation to protect consumers and small businesses from being penalized if a Year 2000 computer bug causes problems with financial transactions. Also covered are contracts, landlord and tenant relations and utilities.
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