Grassley upset over comments on nursing homes, sale of social security numbers

Senator Charles Grassley is criticizing comments made by a high-level Bush Administration official. The administrator for Medicare and Medicaid Services has said it’s “nutty” for federal rules to require nursing home inspections every 12 to 15 months. Grassley says he’d find it “nutty” to ease up, as nursing homes get 39-billion dollars of your tax dollars every year to care for the aged.Grassley says there must be “vigilant” and frequent inspections to ensure the health and safety of Americans who are in nursing homes.There are about 17-thousand nursing homes in the United States, caring for one-point-six million residents. Grassley was chairman of the Special Committee on Aging before he got the top republican spot on the powerful Senate Finance Committee. On another topic, Senator Grassley wants to crack down on companies and government agencies that ask for a Social Security number as means of identification.In addition, Grassley is asking Social Security Administrators for answers after it was discovered some workers were selling Social Security numbers.Grassley is the top republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees the Social Security Administration.