More than one in four cases of possible sexual and physical abuse against nursing-home patients apparently went unreported to police, and Illinois had the most such incidents of any state.
That’s according to a new government audit that faults Medicare for failing to enforce a federal law requiring immediate notification.
The Health and Human Services inspector general’s office has issued an “early alert” on preliminary findings from a large sampling of cases in 33 states. The results were sufficiently alarming that investigators say corrective action is needed now.
“We hope that we can stop this from happening to anybody else,” said Curtis Roy, an audit manager with the inspector general’s office, which investigates fraud, waste and abuse in the health-care system.
The audit is part of a larger, ongoing investigation. Additional findings are expected.