Video Transcript:

Q:    Welcome back to INsight.  We’re with Dave Farnbauch, here at Sweeney Law, and we want to talk about governmental oversight of nursing homes.  Is there much?

A:    Well, Dirk, nursing homes are licensed facilities that are licensed by the State of Indiana and the Indiana State Department of Health does employ surveyors to go out and inspect nursing homes to check for compliance with state and federal regulations, so, yes, indeed, there is state regulation or oversight of nursing homes in our state.

Q:    So, I guess I’m thinking, as a restaurant consumer, they’ve started in some states putting the letter grade right there in the window.  Is there an easy way for me to find out the same thing with a nursing home, like what these scores are?

A:   There is.  Actually, the Indiana State Department of Health has a website that you can go and look and see if there are what they call deficiencies.  They give, sort of, nursing homes a score card.  So, there is, there are resources available online with the Indiana State Department of Health to check on the performance of nursing homes, as far as compliance with state regs.

Q:    Are there, is it in a language that I can understand, as a layman, or are there certain deficiencies that maybe they word them certain ways, so I don’t necessarily know what’s going on?

A:    Yes, I mean, I think they’re fairly understandable.  So, once again, you’re looking for, you’re looking to avoid nursing homes that receive what they call F tags that are violations of the regulations.

Q:    Okay.  Do those nursing homes get penalized?  Do they instantly have to fix those things?  How does that system work?

A:    You know, what’s interesting, Dirk, is that, this is what we often tell our clients, that the penalties that are assessed by the State of Indiana, when there are non-compliance with state and federal regulations, I like to call them a slap on the wrist.  You know, if you look every year, the highest fine might be $2,500.  So, if you’re a corporation running a chain of nursing homes and you’re faced with a $2,500 fine, I don’t think there’s much incentive, from that standpoint, to comply with the regulations.  Sometimes they threaten, you know, they’ll say, well, we’re going to suspend your license if you don’t take these corrective actions, but it’s extremely rare in the state of Indiana that a nursing home’s license is actually suspended.

Q:    Would I contact the State if, you know, I have a loved one in a nursing home and something has happened to them?  Do families typically go that direction and expect enforcement?

A:   You know, it’s pretty common.  A lot of times people will come into us and they’ll want to pursue a nursing home neglect case and they’ll say, “I have contacted the State and requested that they do an investigation.”  And, once again, we tell clients that’s fine to do that.  I think that’s a good thing to do, but people have to understand, the staff that’s available, you know, through the Attorney General’s office or the Indiana State Department of Health to do complaint investigations, you know, it’s not really adequate to really police all the nursing homes in the state of Indiana that are providing substandard care to residents.

Q:    So, typically, then, I guess I’m asking, then, what do I do if I’m uncomfortable with something going on at, you know, at my loved one’s nursing home?

A:    Well, we think, and we’ve said this many times, one of the most important reasons why families can, for families to pursue a nursing home neglect case is to prevent this from happening to another family and we think that pursuing a legal case against a nursing home for substandard care is a very important deterrent to prevent things from happening to elderly in nursing homes.

Q:    All right.  Good information and I know your website, full of information, as well, at Sweeneylawfirm.com.  If you’d like to find out more, jump online and learn more or just give them a call.  We will be right back on INsight.

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On February 3, 2017, David Farnbauch served as the Moderator of the Civil Judges Panel (Judge Avery/Judge Bobay/Judge Boyer/Judge Levine) at the Allen County Bar Association’s Bench Bar Conference held at the Grand Wayne Center. 

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Read the latest 5 star reviews from clients on attorney David Lee Farnbauch from the online legal directory of AVVO.com 

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INsight Interview with David Farnbauch from 11/02/2016 explaining the misconceptions of nursing home arbitration.

Video Transcript:

 Q: Welcome back to INsight.  We’re with Dave Farnbauch, from Sweeney Law Firm, talking about, this is an interesting topic because we’ve talked about this topic before, nursing home arbitration agreements, where I go into the nursing home and they say if anything ever happens we’re going to go into arbitration and you’re like, that sounds great. 

A: Yes, people don’t realize what they’re signing, Dirk.  When you go into a nursing home and you get admitted, you sign a ton of paperwork and one of the things they stick in front of your nose, that people have no idea what they’re signing, is it’s what we call in our business a forced arbitration agreement.  It’s just basically a simple agreement that says if anything happens to your loved one in the nursing home and you want to make a claim against us for injuries or death or whatever, you’re going to be presenting that case through arbitration and they’re going to select, in that contract that you sign, the forum for the arbitration and it’s probably a forum that you don’t really want to be in, if you want a fair shake.

Q: So, what sounds good because, again, it seems like, oh, arbitration would be cheaper, it would be faster, it would be, you’re telling me it’s more likely I’m going into a, I don’t want to say a no win situation, but a stacked situation?

A: Right.  It’s not like going into the court system, where you’re going to go into a leveling playing field.  These arbitrators that they select to serve as arbitrators in nursing home cases, there’s a reason why they’re selected to serve as arbitrators because they’re probably going to be partial to the nursing home’s position.

Q: The last time we talked about this, weren’t these being discouraged or outlawed?

A: Yes, I mean, this is a good example, Dirk, of elections have consequences.  Back in September of 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, that’s the entities, the governmental entities that fund nursing homes, they announced a final rule banning these pre-arbitration, forced arbitration agreements for nursing homes that receive federal funds, which is basically all nursing homes.  So, they banned these agreements.  Now, with the election, the new administration, CMS just announced that they’re going to issue a new rule sort of repealing the rule that you couldn’t use these arbitration agreements.  So, elections have consequences.

Q: So, is it possible, let’s say I haven’t admitted a loved one yet into a nursing home, is it possible that I just pass on that form and just skip it? 

A: Well, that’s what we recommend that you do.  I mean, when people are shopping around trying to make a good decision for their loved one about which nursing home to select, certainly have your radar up to see if they’re going to present you with a forced arbitration agreement and my advice is if you want to look at a facility that wants you to sign a forced arbitration agreement, go to the next nursing home that doesn’t offer that because there’s a reason they want you to sign an arbitration agreement. 

Q: What if I’m already there, I already did sign this and something happens, have I really lost every right I have? 

A: You know, that’s an interesting question. I would say that it might be a condition to stay at the nursing home.  Say I signed this, but I’ve learned that this is maybe not necessarily a good thing for my loved one.  I don’t want to stay here unless we sign a new agreement, where that’s not part of the admission. 

Q: Hmm, that’s a lot to think about.  All right.  So, after, though, an injury, can I still come to see you or is —  

A: You can.  I mean, even if you’re in a nursing home that has a forced arbitration agreement or one that doesn’t, if your loved one is injured in a nursing home, I believe that, you know, we are the law firm in Fort Wayne that you would want to call because we’ve been doing this for a long time.

Q: It’s one of those, again, who knew, but people only do this usually once or twice, where they’re putting a loved one into a nursing home and so, you know, you go in, you assume everything is going to be good.  If you’d like to find out more about what steps you can take and what to avoid, go check them out online here at Sweeneylawfirm.com.  We’ll be right back on INsight.

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INsight Interview with David Farnbauch from 11/02/2016 explaining the misconceptions of nursing home arbitration.

Video Transcript:

 Q: Welcome back to INsight.  We’re with Dave Farnbauch, from Sweeney Law Firm, talking about, this is an interesting topic because we’ve talked about this topic before, nursing home arbitration agreements, where I go into the nursing home and they say if anything ever happens we’re going to go into arbitration and you’re like, that sounds great. 

A: Yes, people don’t realize what they’re signing, Dirk.  When you go into a nursing home and you get admitted, you sign a ton of paperwork and one of the things they stick in front of your nose, that people have no idea what they’re signing, is it’s what we call in our business a forced arbitration agreement.  It’s just basically a simple agreement that says if anything happens to your loved one in the nursing home and you want to make a claim against us for injuries or death or whatever, you’re going to be presenting that case through arbitration and they’re going to select, in that contract that you sign, the forum for the arbitration and it’s probably a forum that you don’t really want to be in, if you want a fair shake.

 Q: So, what sounds good because, again, it seems like, oh, arbitration would be cheaper, it would be faster, it would be, you’re telling me it’s more likely I’m going into a, I don’t want to say a no win situation, but a stacked situation?

A: Right.  It’s not like going into the court system, where you’re going to go into a leveling playing field.  These arbitrators that they select to serve as arbitrators in nursing home cases, there’s a reason why they’re selected to serve as arbitrators because they’re probably going to be partial to the nursing home’s position.

 Q: The last time we talked about this, weren’t these being discouraged or outlawed?

A: Yes, I mean, this is a good example, Dirk, of elections have consequences.  Back in September of 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, that’s the entities, the governmental entities that fund nursing homes, they announced a final rule banning these pre-arbitration, forced arbitration agreements for nursing homes that receive federal funds, which is basically all nursing homes.  So, they banned these agreements.  Now, with the election, the new administration, CMS just announced that they’re going to issue a new rule sort of repealing the rule that you couldn’t use these arbitration agreements.  So, elections have consequences.

 Q: So, is it possible, let’s say I haven’t admitted a loved one yet into a nursing home, is it possible that I just pass on that form and just skip it? 

A: Well, that’s what we recommend that you do.  I mean, when people are shopping around trying to make a good decision for their loved one about which nursing home to select, certainly have your radar up to see if they’re going to present you with a forced arbitration agreement and my advice is if you want to look at a facility that wants you to sign a forced arbitration agreement, go to the next nursing home that doesn’t offer that because there’s a reason they want you to sign an arbitration agreement. 

 Q: What if I’m already there, I already did sign this and something happens, have I really lost every right I have? 

A: You know, that’s an interesting question. I would say that it might be a condition to stay at the nursing home.  Say I signed this, but I’ve learned that this is maybe not necessarily a good thing for my loved one.  I don’t want to stay here unless we sign a new agreement, where that’s not part of the admission. 

 Q: Hmm, that’s a lot to think about.  All right.  So, after, though, an injury, can I still come to see you or is —  

A: You can.  I mean, even if you’re in a nursing home that has a forced arbitration agreement or one that doesn’t, if your loved one is injured in a nursing home, I believe that, you know, we are the law firm in Fort Wayne that you would want to call because we’ve been doing this for a long time.

 Q: It’s one of those, again, who knew, but people only do this usually once or twice, where they’re putting a loved one into a nursing home and so, you know, you go in, you assume everything is going to be good.  If you’d like to find out more about what steps you can take and what to avoid, go check them out online here at Sweeneylawfirm.com.  We’ll be right back on INsight.

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Insight Interview with David Farnbauch from 10/27/2016 explaining the misconceptions of damages for Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Cases in Indiana.

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Part 2 Insight interview from 09/28/16 with Dave Farnbauch, a Sweeney Law Firm Lawyer, and John Henry III, CEO of JH Specialty, about the development and usability of the New Sweeney Law Firm Website.

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Part 1 Insight interview from 09/16/16 with Dave Farnbauch, a Sweeney Law Firm Lawyer, and John Henry III, CEO of JH Specialty, about the overview of the New Sweeney Law Firm Website.

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The video discusses the possible changing of the Indiana medical malpractice cap on damages.  A bill was introduced last year that was going to raise the current cap of 1.25 million, which it has been since 1998.   So the same cap has been in place now for 17 years.

The cap was going to be raised to $1,650,000 but that did not pass last year. Another bill was briefly introduced this year that has not passed but its possible that a bill does get passed this year. 

The Indiana Supreme Court could rule that the cap is unconstitutional and could vacate the entire cap on damages. This is what the insurance companies are most worried about, that the Supreme Court would rule against the cap and eliminate the cap. 

HISTORY OF THE MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CAP

The medical malpractice cap in Indiana started in 1975 and started out at $500,000. It then increased to $750,000 and then went to the current $1,250,000 in 1998.  Nothing has changed since then, so its time the Indiana medical malpractice cap in damages increases. 

Victim of Medical Malpractice Matter?

If you have been a victim of a medical malpractice or medical negligence case in Indiana, call the Sweeeney law firm today for a FREE Consultation – Fill out the Case Review Form.

Remember there is never a fee, unless we make a recovery for you.

1-866-793-6339 (Toll Free) 

1-260-420-3137 (Local) 

1-260-969-0321 (Fax)

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Video from Indiana medical malpractice lawyer Dave Farnbauch on an update to Indiana’s cap on medical malpractice damages.

The video discusses the possible changing of the Indiana medical malpractice cap on damages.  A bill was introduced last year that was going to raise the current cap of 1.25 million, which it has been since 1998.   So the same cap has been in place now for 17 years.

The cap was going to be raised to $1,650,000 but that did not pass last year. Another bill was briefly introduced this year that has not passed but its possible that a bill does get passed this year. 

The Indiana Supreme Court could rule that the cap is unconstitutional and could vacate the entire cap on damages. This is what the insurance companies are most worried about, that the Supreme Court would rule against the cap and eliminate the cap. 

HISTORY OF THE MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CAP

The medical malpractice cap in Indiana started in 1975 and started out at $500,000. It then increased to $750,000 and then went to the current $1,250,000 in 1998.  Nothing has changed since then, so its time the Indiana medical malpractice cap in damages increases. 

Victim of Medical Malpractice Matter?

If you have been a victim of a medical malpractice or medical negligence case in Indiana, call the Sweeeney law firm today for a FREE Consultation – Fill out the Case Review Form.

Remember there is never a fee, unless we make a recovery for you.

1-866-793-6339 (Toll Free) 

1-260-420-3137 (Local) 

1-260-969-0321 (Fax)

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