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Just in time for the baby-boomer population to move into nursing homes, recent funding cuts may leave some with closed doors, according to the Associated Press.
Deep federal and state government cuts prompted by the recession led to the elimination of $16 million in nursing home funding over the next 10 years. This Medicare rate adjustment enacted last week by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is on top of previous cuts, according to AP.
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Last year, 16,000 nursing homes housed 1.85 million people, up from 1.79 million in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Already, 24 states have cut spending for nursing home care and health services needed by low income people who are elderly or disabled, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released.
But nursing homes may be overstating their problems, writes Ken Terry.
According to this group, reports from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) show that Medicare overpays nursing homes billions of dollars a year. MedPAC found that that aggregate profit margins for freestanding nursing facilities exceeded 10 percent for seven years in a row. In 2007, their profit margin was 14.5 percent. Moreover, they didn’t add staff. So the Center for Medicare Advocacy believes that the nursing home operators are pocketing much of the profits, rather than reinvesting them.
Other stories worth a read.
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