President Biden recently announced his Federal Fiscal Year Budget Proposal, which included a proposal to hold long-term care (LTC) facility owners accountable for noncompliant closures and substandard care.

Specifically, the proposal noted that the decision to close a LTC facility is typically due to the owner of the facility that has control over the financials and not the facility management/administrator. However, the current statutory framework places the risk of civil monetary penalties on the management/administrators rather than the owner. The proposal aims to change the law so that the individual subject to civil monetary penalty from administrator to owner, operator, or owners and operators and to add provisions to ensure enforcement action can be imposed on the owners of a facility, even after the facility has closed.