Bill Text: MI SCR0011 | 2019-2020 | 100th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: A concurrent resolution to urge the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to promptly approve a variance regarding shared bathroom facilities at the D.J. Jacobetti Home for Veterans.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 5-1)
Status: (Passed) 2019-09-18 - Referred To Committee On Military, Veterans And Homeland Security [SCR0011 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2019-SCR0011-Engrossed.html
as adopted by
senate, September 17, 2019
senate Concurrent Resolution No.11
Senator McBroom, Barrett, Daley, Horn, Johnson and Wojno offered the following concurrent resolution:
Whereas, The D.J. Jacobetti Home for Veterans provides a home-like environment that meets a range of care needs, including skilled nursing care. Former service members choose the D.J. Jacobetti Home for Veterans for the unique environment it provides, which includes the comradery gained by living with other veterans. Because this population is predominantly male, it differs significantly from most skilled nursing environments; and
Whereas, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires skilled nursing facilities to equip each resident room with its own bathroom. If a facility wants to provide shared bathrooms, CMS must approve a variance, an exemption from these federal regulations; and
Whereas, 105 of the 186 beds at the D.J. Jacobetti Home for Veterans, all occupied by male residents, do not meet this bathroom requirement because they offer shared bathroom facilities. This means they are currently ineligible to be dually certified for Medicare and Medicaid like the other 81 beds; and
Whereas, There are times when a veteran eligible for Medicare or Medicaid benefits seeks placement in this facility, but the only available beds are non-certified. Veterans face the difficult position of choosing between receiving only partial benefits to be able to stay at the D. J. Jacobetti Home for Veterans and being able to use all of their entitled benefits, a right they have earned through their service to our country; and
Whereas, The advantages gained by allowing veterans to fully utilize the health benefits available to them by approving a variance from CMS bathroom requirements far outweigh any potential issues. Veterans deserve to be able to live where they choose without sacrificing any of their health benefits; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That we urge the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to promptly approve a variance regarding shared bathroom facilities at the D.J. Jacobetti Home for Veterans; and be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and the Director of the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency.
