Make them participate in the federal health and retirement programs.

Under existing law, the government must stop payments to nursing homes that fail to comply with federal health and safety standards in six months after an inspection.

Congressional investigators recently issued a report finding widespread violations of federal health and safety standards in nursing homes in five states.

Medicaid is a federal and state health insurance program for the poor.

CDC will assist in contacting appropriate federal and state health and law enforcement officials.

Mazzocchi also used the hearings to help educate workers on the legislative process, and trained them to act as lobbyists for federal health and safety legislation.

Medicaid, the joint federal and state health care program for the poor, pays more than three-quarters of nursing home costs in the state.

If successful, the Shinnecock will gain access to federal health and education assistance and perhaps even the right to run a casino.

In the 1980's, federal health officials published a map of sorts that set off alarm bells in South Carolina.

Spokesmen for the federal health and budget agencies declined to comment for this article on their spending decisions.