Care liability exemptions OK’d
The state of Washington has exempted more than 2,000 home-based care facilities that cater to the elderly as well as people with mental illness and developmental disabilities from a state policy that requires liability insurance for all state contractors.
One month after writing the Aug. 1 policy, the state’s Department of Health and Human Services created an exemption for adult-family homes. The policy requires state contractors to carry at least $1 million in liability insurance.
Critics argue the exemption leaves little protection for the homes in case of a lawsuit and severely limits the legal recourse for patients who may be injured or mistreated.
But the homes, which can care for as many as six people, faced an unusual burden in trying to secure coverage because insurance premiums rose dramatically in recent years, according to state officials. The state agency did not exempt nursing homes or boarding homes, which are larger and care for more patients than adult family homes.
“Since adult family homes aren’t able to obtain liability insurance, we really couldn’t hold them responsible for it,” said George Zimmerman, a policy resource manager with DSHS’ Aging and Disability Services Administration in Olympia. “We find a lot of adult family homes are going without insurance. It’s kind of a scary thing. If you have no liability insurance, and a problem arises, then there goes your business. And the client has no recourse.”
The small homes provide more than 12,000 beds across Washington, catering to a mix of private-pay and state patients who are unable to live independently.
Both critics and proponents of the exemption concede the insurance provides a safety net for both the homes and the patients who live in them. Last spring, the family of Herbert Kurtzhall received a $300,000 settlement from the insurance company representing an adult family home in Springdale, Wash. Kurtzhall, 82, died in 2001 after breaking his leg at the home and arriving at the hospital unbathed and covered in bruises and rashes, according to sworn depositions from medical staff.
“The entirety of the Kurtzhall settlement came from insurance proceeds,” attorney Stephen Haskell wrote in an e-mail to The Spokesman-Review. “If that exemption had been in place when Herbert Kurzthall died, the family would not have been able to collect anything, short of forcing a sale of the (home).”
Haskell said the exemption would force many plaintiffs to sue the state, which is charged with licensing and monitoring the homes.
Despite the exemption, many adult family homes continue to carry insurance. State law does not require homes to disclose whether they carry insurance, which makes it difficult to track the status of the homes.
The Adult Family Home Association of Washington said it had not done a survey on insurance rates statewide. But executive director Bill Day said he had heard anecdotally that premiums frequently topped $5,000 a year.
The requirement for insurance “would have driven some people out of business,” Day said. “They either couldn’t afford it, or they couldn’t get it.”
Arletta Kaczmarek, owner of Arletta’s Adult Care home in Spokane, said her insurance rate increased from $1,000 in 1995 to about $2,700 last year.
“We cannot afford to be without,” said Kaczmarek, whose home cares for six people. “It is a lot of money, but it is something we have to have.”