CANHR Report
Reveals Problems with
Residential Care Admission Agreements
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Pat McGinnis, CANHR
(415) 974-5171
Senator Joseph Dunn
(916) 445-5831
Report Reveals Problems with Residential Care Admission Agreements;
Senator Dunn authors legislation to establish admission agreement standards
San Francisco, CA -March 21, 2003 - A report released today by
California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform found that a majority of
admission agreements used by California's 6,300+ residential care facilities
for the elderly do not comply with minimum state standards and fail to
provide elderly consumers with basic protections or the information necessary
to make informed choices.
The report, Better Read the Small Print: An Analysis of Admission
Agreements in California's Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly,
made the following findings, among others:
- Many admission agreements omit, distort or misrepresent the minimal
legal rights afforded consumers.
- 93% of the admission agreements reviewed failed to comply with basic
legal requirements.
- As a result, thousands of admission agreements ask residents to waive
basic rights, violate fundamental residents' rights, fail to inform residents
of the costs and services provided, and fail to meet even the basic requirements
under regulations.
- Legalistic contract language, poorly organized agreements and small
font size make many of these documents difficult to read and even more
difficult to understand.
- There are currently no statutory protections in California that govern
admission agreements for residential care facilities for the elderly.
There are over 6,300 residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs)
licensed by the California Department of Social Services. Often referred
to as "board and care" or "assisted living," these
are homes to over 145,000 residents. Approximately 90% of RCFE residents
pay privately for their care and services, with fees ranging from $2,000
to over $6,000 per month.
A 1999 Report released by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO),
which studied admission agreement practices in four states, including
California, found:
"providers do not always give consumers information sufficient
to determine whether a particular assisted living facility can meet their
needs, for how long, and under what circumstances. Marketing material,
contracts, and other written material provided by facilities are often
incomplete and are sometimes vague and misleading." (Assisted
Living: Quality of Care and Consumer Protection Issues in Four States,
U.S. General Accounting Office, April 1999)
SB 211 addresses many of the concerns identified in the CANHR and GAO
reports and would provide residents with the consumer protections and
disclosures they need regarding format, readability, basic services, costs
and residents' rights.
A copy of the summary report
in PDF format* is available here. A full report, with background information
on the study and the evaluation instrument, is available from the CANHR
office.
*To download PDF documents, you'll need a copy of Acrobat
Reader, which you can download
for free here.
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