US Prevails in Dispute Over Nursing Home Survey Team Composition

A Medicaid survey team investigating an adverse incident at a nursing home doesn’t have to include a registered nurse, a federal court said.

The Medicaid Act unambiguously gave the US Health and Human Services Department authority to require that nurses be included on certain survey teams, such as those assessing a nursing home’s compliance with federal regulations, but not others, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York said.

The court entered summary judgment for the agency, following a remand from the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The appeals court had reversed a district ...