By Susan Jaffe | Kaiser Health News | January 4, 2017 | This KHN story also ran in 
About 1.4 million people living in nursing homes across the country can now be more involved in their care under the most wide-ranging revision of federal rules for such facilities in 25 years.
The cha
nges reflect a shift toward more “person-centered care,” including requirements for speedy development of care plans, more flexibility and variety in meals and snacks, greater review of a resident’s drug regimen, better security, improved grievance procedures, and scrutiny of involuntary discharges.
“With proper implementation and enforcement, this could really transform a resident’s experience of a nursing home,” said Robyn Grant, director of public policy and advocacy for the Consumer Voice, a national group that advocates for residents’ rights. The federal Medicare and Medicaid programs pay for most of the nation’s nursing home care — roughly $75 billion in 2014 — and in return, facilities must comply with government rules. [Continued in Kaiser Health News and The Washington Post]