HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 637        FILED ON: 4/28/2010

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4637

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Ten

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An Act PROTECT NURSING HOME RESIDENTS..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.  Chapter 111 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 72Z the following section:-

 Section 72AA. Long-term care facilities shall distribute to each new resident, a resident’s family member or health care proxy, at the time of admission, an informational document written by the Department of Public Health in layperson’s language about the laws and regulations that govern nursing homes, rest homes and long-term care facilities.  Information in the document shall include, but not be limited to, the location of all relevant state and federal laws and regulations relating to long-term care facilities. The nursing home shall be required to maintain a record with the signature as acknowledgment of receipt by the resident, family member or health care proxy.

For the purposes of this section, “long-term care facilities” shall mean nursing homes or skilled nursing or rehabilitation facilities.