Recent legal changes that greatly affect senior living providers throughout the state could be undone if a newly introduced bill gets signed into law. If passed, the Senior Citizen Protection Act, introduced by Democrats in the state legislature on October 5th, would negate recently passed tort reform measures, which were supported by ALFA’s state affiliate the Wisconsin Assisted Living Association (WALA).

"The title and the statements surrounding the "Senior Citizen Protection Act" are to say the least -- misleading," stated Jim Murphy, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Assisted Living Association (WALA). "This proposed legislation, to be authored by members of the minority party in both houses of the Legislature, would undo many of the legal protections provided to assisted living, including "peer reviews" -- a process that is designed to improve resident outcomes and improve quality care."

The legislation passed earlier this year promoted the usage of peer reviews as way to study and improve practices by protecting provider’s peer reviews from being used against them in a court of law. By removing the threat of prosecution, supporters reasoned that senior care communities would have more incentive to utilize the peer review process in developing best practices. The Senior Citizen Protection Act would remove that protection, cutting down on the usage of peer reviews, since there is currently no requirement for assisted living communities or nursing homes to maintain incident reports through peer reviews.

The Senior Citizen Protection Act would also remove limits on non-economic and punitive damages as well as prohibit residents and providers from entering into arbitration agreements, which when properly formulated can benefit both parties by removing the cost of litigation.

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