Long Term Care Criminal Convictions Work Group Report
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) formed the CMS Long Term Care Criminal Convictions Work Group (Work Group) with 11 volunteer members—1 from each of 11 State agencies—in response to a March 2011 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) report. In its report, the OIG examined whether nursing facilities were employing individuals who had criminal convictions. The OIG recommended that CMS explore two issues, which formed the basis of the Work Group’s mission. The CMS responded to the OIG, accepting its recommendations, and recruited volunteers from State agencies to form the Work Group to assist CMS in considering these issues.
The Work Group’s mission was to work closely with designated CMS Central and Regional Office staff to provide CMS with options to consider in developing:
- Common definitions of a “direct access employee”; and
- A list of State convictions that should disqualify individuals from direct access employment with long term care (LTC) facilities and providers, the conviction types that should be considered for mitigation or rehabilitation, and the time period for which each conviction should disqualify individuals from employment.
The Work Group considered all LTC facilities and providers identified in Section 6201 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The Work Group’s activities assisted CMS in identifying current practices and provided options for CMS to consider. These options are described in this report.
The report can be accessed from this link: Long Term Care Criminal Convictions Work Group Report.
CMS Releases Comments
CMS releases comments on the LTCCC Work Group report. The comments can be accessed from this link: Public Comments on the Report of the National Background Check Program (NBCP) Long-Term Care Criminal Convictions (LTCCC) Work Group.