To the editor:

The Kansas House of Representatives recently passed a bill, HB 2306, which would prohibit the use of reports about substandard care problems in nursing homes as part of lawsuits against nursing homes. The for-profit nursing home industry, the main champions of this bill, claim that it will help reduce the cost of liability insurance.

The state of Ohio passed similar legislation last year, and it has had no impact on the cost of liability insurance. HB 2306 removes an important consumer protection for nursing facility residents who have suffered due to facilities that have engaged in a pattern of shoddy practices and poor quality of care. HB 2306 attempts to fix an insurance problem on the backs of vulnerable residents of nursing facilities

HB 2306 opens the door for bad nursing facility operators to avoid the liability that they deserve for poor quality care. The best way for them to avoid liability is to stop being deficient in the quality of their facilities. HB 2306 addresses the problem of quality and liability with a cudgel aimed at the wrong target.

Mike Oxford,

Lawrence