Democratic-Led States Targeted in DOJ’s Review of Nursing Home Deaths

(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration said orders by four states led by Democratic governors requiring nursing homes to admit coronavirus patients may have caused the disease to spread, killing thousands of elderly residents.

The Justice Department said in a statement on Wednesday that New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan mandated that people be accepted by the facilities “often without adequate testing.” It’s requesting data from the states to determine whether to open investigations.

“Protecting the rights of some of society’s most vulnerable members, including elderly nursing home residents, is one of our country’s most important obligations,” said Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Division Eric Dreiband. “We must ensure they are adequately cared for with dignity and respect and not unnecessarily put at risk.”

Governors in New York, Michigan and New Jersey rejected the Justice Department’s inquiry as politically motivated. With President Donald Trump lagging in the polls ahead of the November election, his administration has increasingly sought to shift blame away from the White House over the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has killed almost 180,000 Americans since the start of the year.

The department is reviewing whether to open investigations under the federal Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, which protects the civil rights of persons in state-run nursing homes.

‘Transparent Politicization’

The Justice Department didn’t explain why it didn’t target other states.

“This is nothing more than a transparent politicization of the Department of Justice in the middle of the Republican National Convention,” Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a joint statement. “At least 14 states – including Kentucky, Utah and Arizona – have issued similar nursing guidance all based on federal guidelines – and yet the four states listed in the DOJ’s request have a Democratic governor.”

A spokesperson for New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy also said that the review appears politically motivated, saying the timing during the Republican convention “speaks volumes about the nature of the review.”

Pennsylvania took a more tempered tone, saying in a statement from Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s press secretary, Lyndsay Kensinger: “We look forward to working with the DOJ to provide whatever information is needed to fulfill the request.”

The Justice Department only cited a March order from New York that barred denying admission to a nursing home based on having the virus in its statement. The New York order said nobody should be turned away “solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of Covid-19.”

Separating Positive Cases

The department cited data showing New York had the highest number of virus deaths in the U.S., with many victims elderly, and New Jersey had the highest death rate by population.

Murphy said at an Aug. 10 news conference in Trenton that state’s policy was designed to keep those testing positive for the virus away from the rest of the nursing home population.

“It could not have clearer -- and that is, cohort, separate into different floors -- including staff, different buildings, different wings,” he said.

Whitmer vetoed a bill in July that would have forced nursing homes to create separate facilities for coronavirus patient, saying in a letter to lawmakers that the legislation was based on “the false premise that isolation units created within existing facilities are somehow insufficient to protect seniors.”

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