Medicare and Medicaid drop coverage at nursing home in Destin amid staffing troubles

Jim Thompson, Northwest Florida Daily News
·3 min read

DESTIN – Destin Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, the 119-bed nursing home on Mattie M. Kelly Boulevard that recently got a court order halting a state effort to terminate its license pending any further order from the First District Court of Appeal, is being dropped from the Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs.

Medicare is a federal program for people 65 years of age and older, while Medicaid is a federal and state program that provides health care coverage for people with low incomes. Some people may qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of the federal Department of Health & Human Services has announced that the Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs have been terminated at Destin Healthcare and Rehabilitation, where the state Agency for Health Care Administration recently found patient care compromised by understaffing.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of the federal Department of Health & Human Services has announced that the Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs have been terminated at Destin Healthcare and Rehabilitation, where the state Agency for Health Care Administration recently found patient care compromised by understaffing.

Background: Destin nursing home gets stay on emergency license suspension, still can't admit new residents

Termination of Medicare and Medicaid for the Destin nursing home, set to become effective Thursday, was announced Tuesday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), part of the federal Department of Health & Human Services.

"CMS requires facilities to meet certain health and safety standards to be certified as a Medicare provider," the organization stated in its announcement. "Involuntary termination of a provider agreement is generally a last resort after all other attempts to remedy the deficiencies at a facility have been exhausted. In this instance, CMS has found that Destin Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center is out of compliance with CMS’s health and safety requirements."

The state Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) initially ordered an emergency suspension of the Destin facility effective April 25, but subsequently modified the date to May 2, in part to provide additional time for the nursing home to discharge its patients to other facilities or care arrangements.

One week to relocate 100 residents: Destin nursing home's license to be suspended due to understaffing

AHCA's action came after it determined that understaffing at the nursing home had compromised patient care. While noting that staff members were doing their best to meet resident needs, an April AHCA report noted numerous troubling stories from residents, including one woman who had lived there for three years and said she "did not remember when she had a bath last, and stated she laid in urine for 16 hours one day."

Another resident told AHCA representatives that she had "laid in feces for 4 hours in the recent past, though unable to provide an exact date." The same resident said she had waited for up to two hours for her call light to be answered.

According to the CMS announcement, Medicare and Medicaid payments may continue for up to 30 days for residents admitted to Destin Healthcare and Rehabilitation prior to Thursday. It's unclear how many residents that may affect, since AHCA imposed a moratorium on further admissions on April 16. That moratorium remains in effect as expected additional proceedings in the license suspension case are pending.

Additionally, AHCA has required the Destin nursing home to work to find alternate placements for the more than 100 residents who were in the facility as an AHCA inspection and the subsequent license revocation proceedings began.

As of shortly after noon Wednesday, no one from the nursing home had returned a phone call from the Daily News seeking comment on the Medicare suspension, the relocation of nursing home residents and other aspects of the license suspension proceedings.

As of the same time Wednesday, the appeal court website had no new documents posted in connection with the license suspension beyond the April 30 court order noting the stay "pending further order of this Court."

The Destin facility is operated by Josera LLC, a Florida corporation set up in July of last year that lists the Destin nursing home as its address.

AHCA has had staff on site to monitor the nursing home, and CMS announced Tuesday that it is "closely monitoring the relocation of Medicare and Medicaid patients to other facilities."

CMS noted that it recognizes the challenges of relocating residents and patients, but went on to state that it "prioritizes patient safety and care quality."

Also in its announcement, CMS points residents, patients and family members online to https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/ for guidance. The website allows users to compare nursing homes within a given area, and includes ratings for the listed facilities.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Medicare, Medicaid drops Destin Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center