Long Term Care & Senior Living Blog

Implementation Date: November 28, 2016¹Section 483.15 replaces section 483.12 and requires the facility to establish an admissions policy. Section (a)(2) states facilities cannot request or require residents or potential residents to waive their rights to Medicare or Medicaid benefits or any rights conferred by applicable state, federal and local licensing or certification laws. Section(a)(2)(iii) prohibits facilities from requesting or requiring residents or potential residents to waive facility liability for personal property losses.

In an era where long-term care facilities are increasingly implementing the use of electronic medical records, facilities need to be aware of the issues that might come into play during litigation.

Last December Missouri House Representative Bill White introduced HB 100, titled the Adult Health Care Consent Act. This bill attempts to specify the order of priority of persons entitled to make health care decisions for an individual who has been certified as physically and cognitively unable to consent to his or her own health care.

As reported by Missouri Lawyers Weekly, “a parade of lab-coated doctors” appeared before the Missouri State Senate and House of Representatives in early February 2013 to argue that the recent Missouri Supreme Court decision in Watts v. Cox Medical Center will reverse years of declining malpractice insurance rates. In Watts, the Court held in a 4-3 decision that the statutory cap of $350,000 on noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering is unconstitutional because it violates the plaintiff’s right to a trial by jury. The doctors argued that unlimited noneconomic damages will harm the availability and affordability of health care in Missouri and that restoring the cap will help to control costs and keep doctors in Missouri.