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Nursing Homes not required to carry sufficient Insurance

By Beth Janicek

An article in the Clarion Ledger by Sid Salter, from the talk radio show, On Deadline with Sid Salter, discussed the issue of tort reform and the elderly. He mentioned that when his parents were put into nursing homes they were treated with respect and compassion, but he acknowledges that not all nursing homes in Mississippi are that way. In Mississippi alone there are 15,500 people in 184 nursing facilities.

Tort reform legislation in Mississippi set a $500,000 damage cap for lawsuits. Therefore, House Bill 536 requires non-government nursing homes to carry $500,000 in liability coverage that government nursing homes carry under the Tort Claims Act. However, many Mississippi nursing homes do not carry enough liability insurance to cover those damage caps.

In the article, Mr. Salter states that since nursing homes and insurance companies got the 'tort reform' that they sought, that there should be some accountability for the elderly by enforcing the requirement of $500,000 in liability coverage.

Unfortunately the same story is happening in Texas except Texas does not require any insurance coverage by the nursing homes. The tort reform cap is set at $250,000, and yet many nursing homes do not even have that minimum amount for liability coverage. Certainly if the state is going to provide such broad protection for these nursing homes, they should at least require that nursing homes carry insurance.

I agree with Mr. Salter, that the elderly need less tort reform, not more.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Beth Janicek

Full post as published by San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyer on March 05, 2010 (boomark / email).