H.R. 4898 amends the Social Security Act to add the requirement for air conditioning to the specifications which nursing homes must meet to be eligible for federal funds. Because Medicare and Medicaid provide a major portion of the funding for many patients at nursing homes around the country, this legislation will require virtually all such facilities to have air conditioning.
“It is an absolute outrage that elderly people in nursing homes die because it’s too hot,” said Lantos. “If the operators of these profit-making facilities are not willing to assure humane conditions for the elderly living there, they will not receive federal funds.”