Hi. Today we're looking at how we treat our olds. It turns out, poorly! America's network of assisted living and nursing home facilities are largely more concerned with squeezing out profits than taking care of seniors. Get the world's news at https://ground.news/SMN to compare coverage and see through biased coverage. Subscribe for 40% off unlimited access through our link.
Hosted by Cody Johnston
Executive Producer - Katy Stoll
Directed by Will Gordh
Written by Shawn DePasquale
Produced by Jonathan Harris
Edited by John Conway
Post-Production Supervisor / Motion Graphics & VFX - John Conway
Researcher - Marco Siler-Gonzales
Graphics by Clint DeNisco
Head Writer - David Christopher Bell
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0:00 - Introduction
0:55 - Types of Nursing Homes
6:02 - The Horrible Abuse Inside Nursing Homes
9:24 - Nursing Homes Have Always Been Bad
22:01 - Big Suprise! Private Equity is Ruining The Nursing Home Industry
27:50 - Elderly Care is Terrible Throughout the Country
30:32 - Nursing Homes Are Awful For Everyone!
36:02 - How The Rest Of The World Takes Care Of Their Olds
39:33 - The Co-Presidents Want To Make It Worse
#somemorenews #eldercare
Hosted by Cody Johnston
Executive Producer - Katy Stoll
Directed by Will Gordh
Written by Shawn DePasquale
Produced by Jonathan Harris
Edited by John Conway
Post-Production Supervisor / Motion Graphics & VFX - John Conway
Researcher - Marco Siler-Gonzales
Graphics by Clint DeNisco
Head Writer - David Christopher Bell
For a limited time get 40% off your first box PLUS get a free item
in every box for life at https://hungryroot.com/smn and use code smn.
Pretty Litter helps keep your house smelling fresh and clean. Try and you’ll love it! Go to https://PrettyLitter.com/morenews to save 20% on your FIRST order and get a free cat toy.
Join thousands of small business owners who have streamlined their finances with Found. Open a Found account for FREE at https://found.com/morenews – Found is a financial technology
company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Piermont Bank, Member FDIC.
Nobody does selling better than Shopify. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/morenews ALL LOWERCASE
PATREON: https://patreon.com/somemorenews
MERCH: https://shop.somemorenews.com
0:00 - Introduction
0:55 - Types of Nursing Homes
6:02 - The Horrible Abuse Inside Nursing Homes
9:24 - Nursing Homes Have Always Been Bad
22:01 - Big Suprise! Private Equity is Ruining The Nursing Home Industry
27:50 - Elderly Care is Terrible Throughout the Country
30:32 - Nursing Homes Are Awful For Everyone!
36:02 - How The Rest Of The World Takes Care Of Their Olds
39:33 - The Co-Presidents Want To Make It Worse
#somemorenews #eldercare
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Old people, we all know one or love one,
00:06or we'll become one.
00:09Gross, usually the president is one.
00:12Also, hi, welcome to Video Show.
00:14And here's some more news.
00:16Let's talk about nursing homes.
00:18You know, that bad thing where we joke
00:20about how terrible they are
00:22and threaten our turd parents with?
00:24But thank goodness,
00:26we'll never personally have to experience.
00:28Phew, we're gonna die on our motorcycles when we're 53,
00:32beheaded by a cement truck,
00:33just like that old lady the circus said.
00:35Damn that old lady and her haunting glowing eyes.
00:38Should have put her in a nursing home.
00:40Hey, that reminds me, nursing homes are terrible.
00:50Nursing homes, prophets thrive while grandpa dies.
00:55Oh man, I bet this is gonna be a really fun episode.
00:58I can feel it.
00:59So yeah, there's this weird cognitive dissonance
01:02between joking about how bad nursing homes are
01:05and the sobering reality that we or someone we love
01:08will eventually end up in one.
01:10To be specific, 70% of adults who live over the age of 65
01:15end up needing long-term care.
01:17But we don't think about it, do we?
01:19And honestly, that's probably because most of us
01:21don't feel like we have much of a choice.
01:23Nursing homes, at least in America,
01:25feel as inevitable as death itself.
01:28That's probably why we'd rather make jokes about it.
01:30Knock, knock, who's there?
01:32Death for everyone, eventually.
01:37And just like death itself,
01:39nursing homes come in a lot of depressing flavors.
01:42But let's focus on the two main types.
01:45There's the bougie assisted living communities,
01:47complete with golf courses and swanky MEMA orgies.
01:51And then you've got the other places.
01:53You know the ones, hospital-like, bleach-scented places
01:57where you're lucky if the nurse's call button works.
02:00The orgies there are terrible.
02:03But surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly,
02:06thanks to private equities involvement,
02:08both options are kind of whack.
02:11Whack is what your grandpa calls bad things
02:13because Gen X is nearing 60, and you will too.
02:18The US has roughly 30,600 assisted living communities
02:22with about 1.2 million licensed beds.
02:25These are either individual or shared apartments
02:28with kitchens, bedrooms, and living spaces,
02:30typically for people who need some help
02:33but are mostly healthy.
02:35And 56% of them are chain-affiliated.
02:37It's like a Panera Bread,
02:39but their heart attack lemonade is just, you know, waiting.
02:44Although Panera Bread,
02:45which is apparently one of the eight
02:47cleanest fast food chains in America,
02:49would cringe at the disgusting levels of filth
02:52in many assisted living facilities
02:54and nursing home kitchens.
02:56This factoid was brought to you by our new sponsor,
03:00Subway, for some reason.
03:03Okay.
03:04What I mean is that between 1998 and 2017,
03:08230 foodborne illness outbreaks
03:11ravaged long-term care facilities,
03:13resulting in 54 deaths, 532 hospitalizations,
03:18and 7,648 very sick nanas.
03:21And I do mean nanas
03:23because of the 800,000 folks trapped
03:26in assisted living hell,
03:27around 70% of them are women.
03:29The men, those lucky bastards,
03:33shuffle off this mortal coil early,
03:35dodging the slow motion train wreck
03:37that is end of life care in this country.
03:40So, hooray for an early death, I guess.
03:46♪♪
03:49I'm starting to think the episode
03:50isn't gonna be fun at all.
03:51Was I being sarcastic earlier
03:53when I said it was gonna be fun?
03:55No.
03:57So, these nursing homes are terrible,
04:00but hey, at least they're also extremely expensive.
04:03If you're going into one of those nicer
04:05assisted living facilities,
04:07you're on the hook for about 64K a year.
04:10And if you're thinking,
04:11well, wait, isn't that what Medicare is for?
04:13Don't they cover the costs?
04:15Then you're just adorable.
04:19Welcome to America.
04:20Medicare doesn't cover assisted living.
04:23And Medicaid, depending on which state you're in,
04:25will only help cover some of the costs.
04:28So, most folks end up paying out of pocket
04:30or using long-term care insurance
04:32or some combination if they can afford it.
04:35Often, people will go broke on purpose
04:39so they can qualify for Medicaid.
04:41That's called a Medicaid spend-down,
04:43and it's weirdly common and a clear sign
04:46that our system is just completely screwed up.
04:49The good question mark news
04:53is most people can't afford assisted living,
04:56which means they're on their own
04:58until their health declines so much
05:00they need a skilled nursing facility.
05:03SNFs or SNFs, as I'm told they like to be called,
05:06are like those new Star Wars.
05:08Extremely frustrating,
05:10but no one cares because they make a lot of money.
05:12Also, both are filled with bitter old men
05:14who don't want to be there.
05:16And they're even more expensive than assisted living.
05:20SNFs cost 104K a year unless you want a private room.
05:25That will run you closer to 117K annually.
05:28Medicare covers 100% of the costs,
05:31but only for up to 20 days.
05:34Then you're stuck paying a copay of nearly $210 per day
05:38until you hit 100 days,
05:40or die, whichever comes first.
05:43Hopefully death.
05:44And also, probably death,
05:47because skilled nursing facilities are,
05:49as you might imagine, also extremely terrible.
05:53Like horror movies,
05:54and not the fun kind where a child predator fights a zombie.
05:57No, SNFs are more like Saw
06:00if all the victims were as old as Jigsaw.
06:03These aren't safe spaces
06:04where old folks argue about soup temperatures.
06:07They're terror factories
06:09where management looks the other way
06:11until a nurse's aide is literally caught
06:13in the act assaulting an 83-year-old woman.
06:17Management is so poor in these places
06:20that no one noticed a 29-year-old disabled woman
06:23in a vegetative state had been raped by a care worker
06:26until she gave birth.
06:28Or take the lady in Texas
06:29who was assaulted by a nurse three times.
06:33These are not isolated incidents.
06:35Just within a three-year time span,
06:37more than 1,000 nursing homes have failed to stop
06:41or even investigate sexual abuse claims.
06:44And those are just the ones that got cited for it.
06:47And over five years, 226 nursing homes
06:50were cited for substantiated cases
06:52of rape, sexual assault, or abuse.
06:55Infuriatingly, only around 60% of the cited facilities
06:59were actually fined,
07:01which frankly sucks turds and eats pee puddles,
07:04especially considering 50% of their victims die
07:08within a year of the assault.
07:10My goodness, that was all harrowing just to say out loud,
07:15except the pee puddle thing.
07:17That was just kind of silly.
07:18But don't worry,
07:19we're gonna convert that despair into rage
07:23because as of 2020,
07:25roughly 70% of the 15,000 nursing homes
07:29in the United States were for profit.
07:32That is, of course, what we're actually here to talk about.
07:35We're not gonna just recount horror stories.
07:38You probably already suspected they exist.
07:40Again, it's in our pop culture that these places are bad.
07:45But why?
07:46Why are they bad?
07:48And why can't we do anything about it?
07:51We're busy, I get it.
07:53We don't wanna think about it,
07:55which is, in my opinion,
07:56exactly why these specific institutions
07:59have been allowed to be devoured by money wolves.
08:02But perhaps we need to stop, take a moment,
08:05and actually listen to our elders
08:07so that we can fix this problem.
08:09Hold on, I gotta get this.
08:11It might be my sham ketamine doctor.
08:14Hello, Dr. K.
08:16Hey there, champ.
08:17Remember me?
08:17I'm you from the future.
08:19Oh, nevermind.
08:20Just some old idiot.
08:22What do you want, old idiot?
08:23Just looking to spend a little time with you.
08:25Or anyone, really.
08:27I'm so lonely and tired.
08:29Also, there's a super urgent warning about the future
08:31I need to tell you.
08:32Look, old idiot, I'm young, dumb, and full of calm.
08:36Seriously, I'm lousy with this stuff.
08:39So I don't have time for whatever this is.
08:42The cum is literally clogging my ears and brain.
08:45It's disgusting and it hurts.
08:47I don't even know what I'm talking about.
08:49I should go to the hospital.
08:50Do you wanna come here and stick a stent in my brain
08:53and drain the cum from it before I die?
08:55I didn't think so.
08:57What?
08:58I'm so confused and lonely.
09:00Yeah, that's what I thought, old idiot.
09:02Buh-bye.
09:04What an asshole.
09:05Where was I?
09:07Oh, right, listening to our elders.
09:09Ketamine, also private equity, capitalism, nursing homes,
09:13and how they suck turds, turd popsicles,
09:15or pee puddle popsicles.
09:17Like, wow, we didn't even mention COVID yet
09:20and how many people died due to sick employees
09:23being forced to come into work.
09:25It's all very depressing and we'd rather not think about it.
09:29But good news, does it perhaps make you feel
09:32a little better to learn that in America,
09:36being old was never good?
09:40No?
09:42You all feel worse now.
09:43Well, what I mean is that even before private equity,
09:46care for the elderly was still a delightful mix
09:49of hope you've got family nearby
09:51and here's a one-way ticket
09:53to the shittiest institution imaginable.
09:56Families originally used to keep their elders at home
09:59because they didn't wanna throw mom and dad
10:02into the 1800s equivalent of a haunted asylum,
10:05which at the time was just a regular asylum
10:07before it got all haunted up.
10:09But as America expanded westward for cheap land,
10:13big cities, and to sell our screenplays,
10:15we threw all the old people into poorhouses.
10:18Yup, literal poorhouses,
10:22where the poor, the mentally ill, the elderly,
10:24and anyone else deemed big air quotes unproductive
10:28were shoved together in a building.
10:30We just crammed them all together like cats in a suitcase.
10:34Conditions were, to put it mildly, bad,
10:39but that didn't stop them from exploding in size.
10:42Apparently, we loved this system,
10:45at least until the mid-1800s
10:47when several states began to investigate
10:49and re-examine the torture houses everyone agreed upon.
10:53And they discovered that perhaps, and dare I say maybe,
10:57it was a bad idea to take everyone
10:59we didn't wanna think about
11:01and throw them in the pit from the Dark Knight Rises.
11:04What followed were some reforms.
11:08In 1845, the government enacted a law
11:11that would separate the so-called criminally insane
11:14into exclusive asylums.
11:16Then by the late 1800s,
11:18wealthy philanthropists started transforming poorhouses
11:21into old age homes on sprawling estates,
11:25complete with farms and onsite hospitals.
11:27Hey, better idea.
11:30But at the start of the 1900s,
11:32a new, let's call it a problem, emerged.
11:36People started to live longer.
11:39I don't know, maybe not cramming olds
11:41into torture asylums helped.
11:43But whatever the reason,
11:45life expectancy jumped about 10 years
11:47between 1900 and 1930.
11:50Combine this with the rise of urbanization
11:53as well as the Social Security Act of 1935,
11:56and we got a boom in old age homes.
11:59What's important to note here
12:01is that when originally created,
12:02the Social Security Act pumped federal aid to the states
12:06who would then disperse the money
12:08directly to the individual.
12:10But then in 1950, the act was tweaked
12:13so that this money would actually go directly
12:15to the facilities themselves.
12:18This was, it turns out, a bad idea.
12:21We basically made eldercare a for-profit business
12:24dependent on federal funds,
12:26completely cutting out the actual human
12:29who would be receiving the care.
12:31So naturally, business boomed
12:33while quality did not improve.
12:36By 1975, nursing homes were so bad
12:39you could write a book about it.
12:41Oh, and someone did.
12:43It's called Tender Loving Greed,
12:45how the incredibly lucrative nursing home industry
12:48is exploiting America's old people
12:50and defrauding us all.
12:52Not a very snappy title, but accurate.
12:54I'd have called it Seniors Greetings,
12:58the Omega Principle.
13:00To quote the book,
13:02bad nursing homes seem to be contagious.
13:05Basically, when one home in an area
13:08starts providing garbage-tier care,
13:11soon the rest of the homes around it
13:13start circling the drain.
13:15And once that happens, there's zero incentive left
13:18for any nursing home to deliver decent care
13:20at a reasonable rate.
13:22Why would they?
13:23What are people gonna do, move?
13:26And if all the restaurants sold the same piss sandwich,
13:29people would eventually just assume
13:31that's as good as it gets.
13:36Because for some reason,
13:37our government decided to create
13:39and encourage this for-profit system
13:41while completely cutting out the actual consumer.
13:44It's all the worst parts of a free market
13:46with none of the perks.
13:47By funneling the money directly from the government
13:50to the care facilities,
13:51combined with no good oversight
13:53as to the quality of those facilities,
13:56we created an industry of old people farming.
13:59The 1965 introduction of Medicare and Medicaid,
14:01sadly, did not make this issue better either.
14:04Neither of those systems cover long-term care in your home,
14:08thus pushing for institutionalized
14:10hospital-style care instead.
14:12And to be clear, it's good that these programs exist.
14:15It's good that Kamala Harris wanted to expand Medicare
14:18to include the long-term at-home care we're talking about.
14:22It's bad what...
14:25the thing that happened, but that was good.
14:28And it's good that we wanted to take tax dollars
14:31and give them to people who can't care for themselves.
14:34But it doesn't really seem like we're actually doing that.
14:37Instead, we're giving it to other people
14:39who super-duper pinky promise
14:41to take care of our sick and elderly,
14:43so long as they get to make a profit doing it.
14:46This would, as one suspects, just keep getting worse
14:50all the way into the 90s,
14:52when private companies started buying nursing homes
14:54like they were little wrinkled beanie babies,
14:56or for our younger viewers,
15:00an NFT of an old person.
15:02During this era, these companies would figure out
15:05a fun little corporate scheme that would be later called
15:08the OPCO-PROPCO model.
15:11Basically, these nursing homes split into two entities,
15:14one that operated the facility,
15:17and a second that owned the actual property.
15:20This allowed them to charge themselves,
15:23or rather the taxpayers, rent and interest,
15:26essentially creating a new operating, big quote,
15:29cost to double dip,
15:31like an Ouroboros of financial exploitation.
15:33They would just trade real estate to themselves
15:36and get tax breaks.
15:38And this, folks, is why, for the millionth time,
15:43you can't trust corporations.
15:45They aren't your friend.
15:46They aren't people, Mitt.
15:49They're greedy little worms.
15:50And if you leave the bag of worm food open
15:53for just a second, they will gorge themselves.
15:56Except that's being unfair to worms.
15:59Folks at home, if you turn into a worm,
16:02we would still love and support you.
16:04And after the break,
16:05we're gonna talk about exactly what happens
16:07when these non-worms start to prioritize profits
16:10over people.
16:11And hey, speaking of prioritizing profit.
16:17Hello there, did you hear?
16:19The elderly president let the rich unelected guy
16:21plunder the government and dissolve USAID?
16:23Seems bad, I don't know, there's a lot of stuff going on.
16:26I wonder if the media is covering it correctly.
16:28Probably not.
16:29But wait, I can see for myself using Ground News,
16:32which you can also use via the QR code on the screen.
16:36That's a sponsor we at the Showdy sought out.
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16:47So let's take a look
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16:51Heck, let's just look at the left-leaning headlines
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16:57They're all cowards.
16:58The only headline that actually portrays the gravity
17:00of this situation is Rolling Stone saying,
17:03Elon Musk's attempt to control the treasury payment system
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17:08And even that seems a little soft.
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19:59Woo-hoo!
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21:08and cane doing a hello my baby, hello my honey over there.
21:11You can see it.
21:12Listen.
21:13Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow.
21:17Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow.
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21:22Meow.
21:24Well, well, well, look who came crawling back.
21:29Okay, schnookums.
21:31I am not calling them that.
21:33Sorry, sorry.
21:35Okay, schmoopus.
21:36So we've given you the timeline of how nursing homes
21:39went from bad to more bad,
21:41mainly thanks to a for-profit system
21:43siphoning government money
21:45that should have gone to real human people
21:47instead of private facilities charging themselves for rent.
21:50But since nobody wants to think about it,
21:52they can get away with this while we ignore the problem,
21:55just like we ignore a lot.
21:57Oh my God.
21:59What, what, what, fucking what?
22:01Please, young Cody, you really need to listen to me.
22:05It's important.
22:06You have five seconds and then I'm exploding with calm.
22:09I'm calling to warn you to take care of yourself, of us.
22:12I'm you.
22:13You mean like the royal us?
22:16I don't think there is a royal us.
22:18Then why are you wasting my time?
22:21Ha, flush.
22:22Wait, no.
22:23God, he's boring.
22:25Hate him.
22:27Anyway, our timeline is entering the aughts
22:30as private equity sunk its claws in
22:32and investments in nursing homes skyrocketed
22:34from $5 billion in 2000
22:37to more than $100 billion by 2018.
22:41Now, if you're an ignorant little schmoopus,
22:43you might think that an industry
22:45making way more money like that
22:47would improve the conditions of the product.
22:50So adorable.
22:52But, you know,
22:55no, they fired staff, lowered wages,
22:58and cut down on basic care for their residents.
23:01Meanwhile, nonprofit nursing homes
23:03tend to have more staff, fewer violations,
23:06and don't treat our grand people like walking money bags.
23:09Alas, there's been a severe decline in nonprofits
23:12over the last decade as for-profit facilities
23:15tend to have greater financial resources.
23:18After all, thanks to, you know, cutting corners,
23:21these private companies are 41% more profitable
23:25than other nursing homes
23:26because you can make more profit, you see,
23:29when you stop paying for resident luxuries
23:32like nurses or supplies.
23:34Also, these for-profits continue
23:36to fracture into mirror entities
23:39like one of those annihilation aliens.
23:41I believe the term is shell companies.
23:43Along with charging themselves rent,
23:45they would also do stuff like lease medical supplies
23:48to themselves, all while still being owned
23:51by the same person or umbrella company.
23:53For example, Genesis Healthcare,
23:56which provides both long and short-term care,
23:59has over 700, seven, zero, zero corporate entities,
24:04most of which exist simply to own little pieces
24:07of other Genesis entities.
24:10I mean, look at this image.
24:12It is so convoluted.
24:13Even Rube Goldberg would be like,
24:15hey guys, that sounds complicated.
24:18It's exactly what he sounds like, look it up.
24:20And if you think the fact
24:21that we know they are doing this could help,
24:24it doesn't actually help
24:27that we know that they're doing this.
24:29Like most giant corporations, lawsuits are meaningless
24:32when you have the resources to mitigate them.
24:35Probably the most insidious example is Breas Healthcare,
24:38California's largest nursing home company,
24:41which controls one in 14 nursing home beds in California.
24:45And as of 2014, Breas' homes had over double
24:49the rate of violations of other facilities.
24:52For example, here's a case
24:54where an 84-year-old marathon runner
24:56fell 10 freaking times at Breas' country villa Wilshire,
25:02breaking bones and leaving her permanently disabled,
25:05as in forever.
25:07The jury found her rights violated 132 times
25:11and awarded her $2.3 million,
25:14which sounds like a lot unless you're a billionaire,
25:17like the billionaire owner of Breas,
25:20who has been accused in one case
25:21of threatening witnesses with prolonged court battles.
25:24And in a different case,
25:26testimony claimed he called a witness at home
25:29the night before court
25:30and harassed them with thinly veiled threats
25:33about being very well-connected
25:35with the Los Angeles Police Department and Kamala Harris.
25:39Oof.
25:40Sorry, I don't think she has as much pull as she used to.
25:44God, no, please, no.
25:49Just fucking no, Biden or bust.
25:52Where was I?
25:53Oh, right, taking advantage of the elderly.
25:55Much like Genesis Healthcare,
25:57Breas Healthcare also built a nearly 80-company shell game
26:01to dodge liability.
26:02Remember how these places charge themselves
26:04for equipment and property?
26:06I said it very recently.
26:07Well, in 2018 alone,
26:09Breas-owned homes paid themselves
26:11$13 million for supplies,
26:14$16 million for workers' comp,
26:16and a staggering $64 million in rent.
26:20That is 40% more than other nursing homes pay
26:24for the same stuff.
26:25This money just vanishes into a maze of shell companies,
26:29hidden from view, making it nearly impossible to track.
26:33But we sort of know where it all goes, right?
26:37For example, Sunmar Management Services
26:40also owns a whole lot of nursing homes in California.
26:44In 2021, their CEO, Frank Johnson,
26:47who owns 75% of the company,
26:50was accused of exercising total control over their finances.
26:54Lawyers on behalf of Johnson's former business partners
26:58accused him of treating Sunmar as, quote,
27:00his own personal piggy bank.
27:03They also accused him and his son, David,
27:05of using money from Sunmar to buy three private jets,
27:10a yacht, several multimillion-dollar homes,
27:13and Bentley and Rolls-Royce automobiles.
27:16But hey, maybe that's a business Rolls-Royce
27:19for storing all the grandparent corpses.
27:21You don't know.
27:23Oh, this guy David was also caught harassing
27:25a former business partner.
27:27His message included gems like, quote,
27:30Greed, stupidity, and negligence has been your legacy.
27:34Bang, bang.
27:36And I have way more money and firepower than you can imagine.
27:40And this is a fun one.
27:41Do not contact my father further,
27:44or I will release holy hell on your pack of morons.
27:48Excellent.
27:49By the way, I know we're focused on California here,
27:52but that's just because we had to pick a state
27:54and California is where all my stuff and pets are.
27:57This is, as you can imagine, happening everywhere.
28:00Here's a New York attorney general lawsuit
28:03accusing Centers Healthcare of siphoning $83 million
28:07in rent hikes and phony fees.
28:09Here's another from the villages of Orleans in New York,
28:12where the owners shoved $10 million
28:15in their designer pockets
28:16while residents stewed in filth and unfit conditions.
28:20According to a 2024 industry analysis,
28:23the worst states for elder care
28:25are West Virginia, Alabama, Delaware,
28:28Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Mississippi.
28:31If you're curious, here's a depressing chart
28:34that shows the nursing home operators around the country
28:37with the most costly penalties per facility.
28:40ArcadiaCare leads the pack
28:42with an eye-watering $258,181 per facility.
28:48That's seven times the national average.
28:51Good job, Arcadia,
28:52but watch out,
28:53Aperion and Infinity Healthcare Management
28:56aren't far behind.
28:57They'll get there.
28:58We're rooting for you.
29:00Because thankfully for these professional sadists,
29:03there isn't much oversight on a federal level
29:05for tracking these abuses.
29:07The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,
29:10the agency supposedly overseeing this clown show,
29:13is about as effective as asking your dog
29:15to explain a David Lynch film.
29:18CMS requires states to refer suspected cases of abuse
29:21to law enforcement,
29:23but those referrals are often delayed.
29:26Nor are those requirements clear
29:27on what information to include
29:29and don't require information on the type of abuse
29:32or details about the perpetrator.
29:34But you know, I'm sure this will all get better
29:37now that Big Balls is making the system more efficient.
29:41Then we get the lawsuit caps.
29:43That's an infuriatingly ghoulish thing
29:45where states set arbitrary limits
29:47on how much victims of elder abuse
29:49can receive for non-economic damages.
29:53You know, little nitpicks like suffering and disfigurement,
29:57which are capped at a pathetic $350,000 in California.
30:01That's it.
30:02That's how much your suffering is worth.
30:04I'm so sorry, Granny.
30:06Shoulda made tastier cookies or something.
30:09A total of 32 states slap these price tags on human life
30:14because, shocking twist,
30:16this country really seems to care more
30:18about money than people.
30:19♪♪
30:22I mean, we knew this.
30:24We knew this the moment COVID hit.
30:25And speaking of that,
30:26we should probably note that a lot of these problems
30:28aren't necessarily due to the actual employees
30:31of these places.
30:32Like, sure, a lot of the horror stories
30:34do involve an employee doing some messed up stuff.
30:37But on average,
30:39most of them are also victims of the broken system.
30:42Also victims of the patients.
30:44We didn't mention this much,
30:45but some old people are terrible.
30:47But even terrible people deserve quality care.
30:50Some old people, they're just sick and confused.
30:53They might lash out.
30:54And that all comes down on the nurses.
30:57These workers are drowning in the gooey consequences
31:00of all this cost-cutting.
31:02Nursing facilities have been found
31:03to run dangerously thin staffing levels,
31:06with nurses expected to juggle impossible patient ratios,
31:10like 60 to one in Nebraska.
31:13And often, these workers are sent in
31:15without even being provided with the basic resources.
31:18During COVID, some facilities were resorting
31:20to makeshift PPE gear.
31:23Because of course, the pandemic made everything worse.
31:26There have been more than two million cases
31:28in nursing homes, just for residents alone.
31:31As of 2022, over 200,000 residents and staff had died.
31:36These facilities are ground zero for outbreaks.
31:39And while the federal vaccine mandate
31:41offered protection for a hot second,
31:44only 40% of residents are up to date on their shots.
31:48The result is that a bunch of sick people
31:50with homemade masks are forced to work
31:52in one of the most vulnerable environments,
31:55like tourists visiting Chernobyl
31:57wearing fishbowls on their heads.
31:59These people are getting worked to death.
32:02In many cases, the literal death of the people
32:04in their care is just one more piece of this jigsaw puzzle
32:08forming the image of jigsaw cutting your grandma up
32:11into a jigsaw puzzle.
32:13Because much like healthcare in general,
32:16none of this is going to really improve
32:18unless we build a system where helping people
32:21is no longer a for-profit industry.
32:24And we know this because other countries
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35:54Hi, so America fucking sucks.
36:00Specifically when it comes to elder care,
36:02but also other stuff too.
36:04It is now time we discuss how other countries
36:07take care of their olds.
36:08Like here's a name of a place, Japan.
36:12They've got one of the oldest populations in the world
36:15with 28.4% of them, 65 or over as of 2019.
36:20They offer mandatory long-term care insurance
36:22for citizens 40 and up, funded half by tax revenues
36:26and half by capped premiums.
36:28They're also working
36:28on a community-based integrated care system
36:31to ensure older people receive everything
36:33from preventive care to housing.
36:36They even assign a care manager
36:37to assist every person using their services.
36:40How do they pull it off?
36:42We'll probably never know.
36:43It's one of life's greatest mysteries like Loch Ness
36:46or the, what, what, what, what?
36:50Speak up.
36:51We do know, thanks finger.
36:54It's because they spend 67% more
36:57of their GDP on long-term care compared to America.
37:01So yeah, Japan appears to give at least two shits,
37:04way more than the shits we give, which is no shits.
37:08We give no shits for turds.
37:10Meanwhile, in countries like Denmark and Sweden,
37:13elder care is primarily handled by the state,
37:16meaning it's funded mostly through taxes
37:18instead of out of pocket like we do here.
37:20Imagine that.
37:21Imagine this weird Wario version of a country.
37:25Let's call it Denmark.
37:27Where instead of bankrupting your entire family,
37:29the government actually takes care of its citizens.
37:32Oh, and in this wondrous land of pure imagination,
37:36anyone who can't live independently
37:38is given free home care services.
37:41Jeez, I wonder if that's why
37:43they have a high life expectancy, these bizarro monsters.
37:48Also, these freaks have senior citizen councils
37:51run by folks over 60 who work to ensure
37:54the healthcare rights of all senior citizens
37:56are protected.
37:58Assholes.
37:59Even those moose riding wizards to the north
38:02fund long-term care through taxes.
38:05Hell, they even offer tax credits to folks
38:08caring for physically or mentally impaired
38:10partners or dependents.
38:12Those hockey worshiping Satanists
38:14are lousy with universal healthcare.
38:17And in Britain, local taxes and government grants
38:19fund elder care, and they still manage
38:22to offer financial assistance to anyone
38:24with under 30K to their name.
38:27Their older population is also eligible
38:29for tax refunds, utility payment plans,
38:32housing benefits, and more.
38:34Singapore's another country with a name,
38:36and their elder care plans also make America
38:39look like a deadbeat dad, except for that one kid
38:42he needs for a human shield.
38:44They've spent $3 billion in five years
38:46to improve elder care, with an additional
38:48$14.1 billion earmarked to expand healthcare benefits
38:52and outpatient subsidies.
38:55So yeah, it turns out there are countries
38:56that try to treat their citizens like people.
38:58I mean, I have some notes for Singapore,
39:02but my point is that we could be one
39:06of those countries too, the kind that cares
39:09about their olds, and the majority of Americans
39:12agree with me here.
39:14They love Cody.
39:16We just have to elect the people who will do that.
39:22Oh, that's right.
39:25I just remembered, that is a shame.
39:28So yeah, Biden and the Democrats
39:30sorta kinda did some stuff to help with this.
39:33Like for the first time ever,
39:34we have national minimum staffing standards.
39:37Also, a registered nurse has to be onsite 24-7,
39:41which I guess we didn't have before.
39:44Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
39:48They were also pushing new standards
39:50to ensure people get timely care under Medicaid.
39:53The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
39:55were also putting $75 million into hiring more nurses.
40:00But now, I don't know, man.
40:03As we recorded this, the GOP was gunning to gut Medicaid.
40:06DOJ is no doubt hate-fucking whatever agencies
40:09that were supposed to protect seniors,
40:11because currently the presidents would like
40:13to reduce waste and fraud and abuse
40:16in all agencies and departments of government,
40:18and are blaming alleged 150-year-old people,
40:21even though it's just DOJ's misinterpretation
40:23of an old coding language.
40:25Meanwhile, one of the presidents is pretending
40:27to Joe Rogan's innocent cherub face
40:30that Social Security is the world's biggest Ponzi scheme.
40:33They want to cut all of this stuff
40:36and blame individuals for it
40:38instead of the providers doing the fraud.
40:41And so that's all to say that
40:43if you or a loved one needs elder care,
40:46it's kind of up to us to navigate that right now.
40:49So if you're still in the research phase,
40:52start by looking at nonprofit facilities,
40:54which you can find through local advocacy groups
40:56or directories like LeadingAge.
40:58You can also use Medicare's Compare website
41:02for now to compare nursing homes
41:05based on staffing, health inspections, and overall quality.
41:08There's a star rating system,
41:10but as one lawyer told us, don't rely on that alone.
41:14Yeah, we talked to lawyers.
41:15Big deal.
41:17Another essential resource is the National Consumer Voice
41:20for Quality Long-Term Care,
41:22which offers guides to help you ask the right questions
41:26and know your rights when choosing a facility.
41:29However, it's important to remember
41:30that when the time comes to make the decision,
41:33it's usually fast and unexpected, just like sex.
41:37And you don't always have a choice of location,
41:39just like sex.
41:40And when you're done,
41:42I'm not gonna continue the bit actually,
41:43if someone you know has already been harmed
41:46in a nursing home,
41:47contact an elder care attorney immediately.
41:51Many of them work on contingency,
41:53so don't stress about not having enough money upfront,
41:56just like sex.
41:57Tricked you, ha!
41:58And if you're hoping to protect your parents
42:00or grandparents from harm,
42:02check out Justice in Aging,
42:04which has a downloadable guide
42:06to spotting and resolving common problems in nursing homes.
42:10Similarly, California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform
42:14provides fact sheets to better educate yourself
42:16on your rights and can help you find an attorney.
42:19However, the best defense is frequent visits
42:23to the facility.
42:24Unfortunately, you are the best advocate for your loved one,
42:28which means it's on you to check in on them
42:30and take note of their surroundings.
42:32An attorney at elder care law firm, Lanzone Morgan,
42:35advised staggering your visits to catch them off guard.
42:39Many times, the staff will learn about your schedule
42:42and keep up appearances only when you pop in.
42:46For more information,
42:46check out the elderly care advocate film, Happy Gilmore,
42:49on how to deal with these situations.
42:52But man, I get it.
42:55Unless you're stupid rich,
42:56it's hard to balance everything on top
42:59of making sure your parents are safe.
43:01It's hard enough to just afford it,
43:03and that's exactly what this for-profit system hopes for.
43:07They hope you're tired.
43:09They hope you're broke.
43:11They hope you're not paying attention
43:13so they can squeeze your gam-gam like a gold-soaked rag.
43:17It's no surprise we have one of the worst
43:19and most expensive elder care systems in the world.
43:23It's one of the many things
43:24we shouldn't have to worry about, but we do.
43:27And so the only way to mitigate this problem,
43:30at least right now, is to advocate for a better path,
43:34pay attention, and actually listen to our elders
43:37when they speak up about this stuff.
43:40Not all of them, some of them are awful monsters,
43:43but generally, listen to them a bit.
43:45Because one day, they'll be us.
43:48We'll be the elders.
43:50I wish there was some kind of visual
43:52or narrative metaphor to convey that,
43:54but this is going to affect everyone.
43:58I mean, not me, because of the motorcycle accident.
44:01Cootie, please, you must listen to me.
44:02Nah, nah, dog.
44:07Nope, nobody answered that.
44:09Nobody picked that up.
44:11That strange man is a bummer.
44:25Voicemail?
44:26I, hey, buddy, it's me, you, from the future.
44:34Just looks like I missed you, and I miss you,
44:37but if you give me a call back, that'd be great.
44:39I really, really need some money.
44:42Do you have ex-banking yet?
44:44They've replaced all the banks.
44:45You can only access it by laughing
44:47at a specific person's jokes,
44:48but if you could do that, it'd really help me out.
44:51I had a little bit of a fall, fell off my motorcycle.
44:55I was doing a sick, sick jump.
44:57It was awesome, but it hurt, too, so call me back.
45:03It's Cody, you.
45:07I'm you, it's from the future.
45:08It's Cody from the future.
45:10I don't know if I've explained that well,
45:13but I'm you from the future, about 10 years.
45:19We did not age well, but we're still kicking,
45:25if you could just send me some money.
45:29I love you, me, though.
45:35Bye.
45:38Bye.
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46:11You can actually listen to this show,
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46:17instead of what you just did, which was watch it on YouTube
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46:55So in conclusion, Some More News is a land of contrast.