After some tweaking in the legislature, a Wyoming bill that would ensure visitation rights for families of people in long-term care facilities and hospitals cleared the Wyoming House last week and now is moving onto the state Senate.
The bill originally did not give nursing homes and assisted living communities the authority to decide whether to allow visitors. Rep. Lloyd Larsen (R) added an amendment that removed the possibility of barring them from prohibiting visitors altogether.
The Republican-sponsored bill was introduced by Wyoming Reps. John Bear, Bill Fortner, Dan Laursen, Chip Neiman and Pepper Ottman, as well as state Sens. Anthony Bouchard, Tim French, Tom James and Troy McKeown.
A study published in December in the Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine noted that nursing home residents who had no contact with family or friends during the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to die than were counterparts who had regular contact with loved ones.
“While we understand private citizens wanting to be able to visit their loved ones, and we understand that isolation has an impact with individuals in our facilities failing to thrive, nursing homes and assisted living facilities have been dealt a tough hand. [The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] and [the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] visitation requirements have been onerous and very restrictive to begin with and then have changed often, creating uncertainty and challenges for providers,” LeadingAge Wyoming President and CEO Eric Boley told McKnight’s.
Under the bill, a healthcare facility must provide a written copy of its visitation rules to every person admitted, or to a representative. The facility also must “visibly post” a copy of the most current regulatory guidance regarding visitation rights.
“I believe the intentions of the bill were good and sincere, but the ramifications of the bill were widespread and problematic and would not allow us to follow science and best practices to care for and protect those whom we serve,” Boley said.
Another amendment sponsored by Wyoming Rep. Dan Zwonitzer (R) requires facilities to follow CDC and CMS guidance regarding visitation rights.
“HB27 could have potentially created the situation where state law was in direct conflict to CMS and CDC and put providers at risk of fines and citations, and could have ultimately put residents in our facilities at risk,” Boley said. “It would have passed [a] law that could potentially put residents in even more risk in the future, depending on what illnesses and viruses emerge.”
