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Following the hardships of COVID-19, some nursing homes have required that all their low-income residents turn over their economic stimulus checks.
This $1,200 cash grab is now something lawmakers want to halt.
On Tuesday, Sens. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) called on the Health and Human Services inspector general’s office to warn nursing homes and any assisted-living facilities that these actions are “improper and unlawful.”
Reps. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.) and Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) wrote a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services saying residents should not be “coerced into wrongly handing over their checks for fear of being kicked out of their homes."
This attempt by nursing homes was flagged last month by the FTC's elder justice office. They said they received reports from Iowa and other states. Oregon’s attorney general has issued a “scam alert,” calling the practice unlawful.
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