Black, Latino Nursing Home Residents Died Packed 3, 4 To A Room

CHICAGO — A disproportionate number of patients to die in overcrowded nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic were Black or Latino — sometimes packed three or four to a room so that facilities could squeeze more funding out of the federal Medicaid insurance program, state officials said this week.

According to a report from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, also known as HFS, nursing homes with more than three residents to a room had a much higher number of preventable deaths than less crowded facilities — about 60 percent of COVID-related deaths of nursing home residents between March and July 2020 occurred in homes where at least 10 percent of residents were in rooms with three or more people.

The report said overcrowding is rewarded by Medicaid, which favors facilities that push maximum occupancy. Over the past few years, Illinois nursing homes that got the majority of their funding from Medicaid met staffing levels 92 percent below targeted levels. Yet, in comparison to residences that are fully staffed, the understaffed homes profited three times more per resident, according to reporting from the Chicago Tribune.

Since Medicaid-funded homes serve predominantly Black and Hispanic residents, they were much more likely to die than white nursing home residents.

HFS deputy director for strategic planning Andy Allison told lawmakers at a House committee hearing on the subject that white people are rarely put in such overcrowded, understaffed situations, saying the number of deaths among minority populations represents "a sobering image of inequality."

The department has proposed $300 million in funding for senior living facilities to hire more workers and enact other policies to help alleviate overcrowding.

Donna Ginther, a senior policy adviser for the Health Care Council of Illinois, which represents nearly half of all nursing homes in the state, said people shouldn't rush to judgement on the type of care given in nursing homes.

According to Ginther, nursing homes have lost almost 18 percent of their residents, in addition to receiving less government assistance than was given at the beginning of the pandemic for protective equipment. Because of this, she asked for increased reimbursement rates to bolster new recruits and increase wages for current workers.

Both proposals from HFS and the Health Care Council of Illinois would ask nursing homes to contribute more in order to receive a higher federal match through the Medicaid program.