South Carolina § 44-6-420 - Enforcement actions; considerations; proportionality to violations.

§ 44-6-420. Enforcement actions; considerations; proportionality to violations.

When the department is notified by the survey agency that a nursing home is in violation of one or more of the requirements for participation in the Medicaid program, it may take enforcement action as follows:

(1) if the nursing home is dually certified for participation in both the Medicare and Medicaid programs, the department shall coordinate any enforcement action with federal authorities and shall defer to the actions of these federal authorities to the extent required by federal statute or regulation;

(2) if the nursing home is only certified for participation in the Medicaid program and is not certified for participation in the Medicare program, the department may take any enforcement action authorized under federal statute or regulation that would have been available for use by federal authorities if the nursing home had been dually certified;

Any enforcement actions taken solely by the department under item (2) must be proportionate to the scope and severity of the violations and also shall take into account the factors considered by federal authorities in similar enforcement actions. Dually certified nursing homes and nursing homes only certified for participation in the Medicaid program must be subjected to comparable enforcement actions for comparable violations.

HISTORY: 1990 Act No. 449, SECTION 4; 1993 Act No. 181, SECTION 1062; 1998 Act No. 419, Part II, SECTION 45B.