Wyden wants public alerted about nursing homes taking COVID-19 stimulus checks

WASHINGTON (KTVZ) -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) are asking the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General to issue alerts to providers and the public about the unlawful practices of some nursing homes that are requiring Medicaid recipients in their care to hand over their economic impact payments recently authorized by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The committee leaders wrote to Acting Inspector General Christi Grimm outlining the problem and its prevalence, as well as requesting the inspector general’s office take the specific steps of issuing alerts.

The Federal Trade Commission’s Elder Justice Coordinator recently publicized the issue, and the commission is accepting complaints on individual cases, as are some state Attorneys General.

The full text of the letter from Grassley and Wyden can be found HERE.