S. 647: Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act of 2009
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S. 647: Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act of 2009
111th Congress · introduced 2009-03-19 · Health · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
federal
Follow this bill, step by step
- Where it came from: introduced 2009-03-19 · official record
- Who proposed it: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] · what a sponsor is
- What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
- Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
- If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.
Official title
Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act of 2009
Plain summary
Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act of 2009 - Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to direct skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and nursing facilities to make available ownership and additional disclosable parties information for submission to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the state in which the facility is located, and in certain instances the state long-term care ombudsman. Outlines accountability requirements for such institutions. Directs the Secretary to establish a quality assurance and performance improvement (QAPI) program for SNFs, including multi-unit chains of such facilities. Requires specified additional information to appear on the HHS Nursing Home Compare Medicare Website. Requires SNFs to separately report expenditures for wages and benefits for different levels of direct care staff. Directs the Secretary to develop a standardized form for use by a resident (or a person acting on the resident's behalf) in filing a complaint about a SNF with a state survey and certification agency or long-term care ombudsman program. Requires a state to establish a complaint resolution process. Directs the Secretary to establish a program for SNFs to report staffing information based on payroll data and other verifiable and auditable data in a uniform format. Outlines rules governing civil monetary penalties for SNF violations. Requires the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on the financial status, resident care, and performance of SNFs and nursing facilities in the Special Focus Facility (or a successor) program of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services relative to a comparable sample of facilities outside such program. Directs the Secretary to establish a national independent monitoring pilot program to oversee interstate and large intrastate chains of SNFs. Requires a SNF administrator to notify the Secretary and other responsible parties of an impending closure of the facility. Directs the Secretary to conduct demonstration projects on the culture change movement and the development of best practices in SNFs and nursing facilities for the use of information technology to improve resident care. Directs the Secretary establish requirements for the approval of nurse aide training and competency evaluation programs that include dementia management training and patient abuse prevention training. Directs the Secretary to study and report to Congress on training for certified nurse aides and supervisory staff of SNFs and nursing facilities.
Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.
What a vote does
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A “Nay” vote
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What does this mean? (plain words)
Official text
Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act of 2009
Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes
Officials and money
Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] · 3 cosponsors
Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.
Cosponsors on this site
Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] reported raising $527,998 (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.
No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.
Words on this page, explained (3)
- Resolution
- A formal statement or decision by a legislative body. Simple resolutions often only express an opinion or set rules for one chamber; they do not become law.
- Rulemaking
- The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.
- Securities
- Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.
Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
- Congress.gov
- Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-111s647.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/111/s>
Record fed-us-cong111-s647 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong111 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong111