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Voters say no to decreasing Medicaid

May 31, 2011 10:52:42 AM by Administrator Account

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By Joan M. Woods

A recent survey indicates that Medicaid funding cuts to nursing home care are very unpopular among Rhode Island voters. Eighty-two percent of voters disapprove of cutting Medicaid for those in long-term care facilities and nursing homes. More than nine in 10 voters think it is important for the governor and state legislature to protect Medicaid funding. The state’s proposed fiscal 2012 budget, however, includes cuts of nearly $13 million to nursing home care.

    State officials contend that growth of Rhode Island’s Medicaid budget is unsustainable. That’s hard to argue. Nursing home expenditures, however, are not part of the problem. State spending on nursing homes has grown by only 2.1 percent annually over the past five years -- a far slower growth rate than the increase in overall health care costs and markedly less than the state’s 7 percent per year growth in Medicaid spending.
   Medicaid under funds the cost of skilled nursing care by $12 to $15 per patient per day. Of all the New England states, only Vermont pays less for nursing home care for its Medicaid recipients.
   In the past, Medicaid shortfalls were subsidized by Medicare and private payments, but recent cuts to Medicare and a shift of private revenues to assisted living have led to a precarious balancing act for skilled nursing providers. Today’s nursing homes care predominantly for an acutely ill and frail population in need of 24-hour care. The rising acuity of the nursing home population has increased costs, yet government reimbursement continues to diminish. If continued, this inverse relationship will certainly erode the quality of care and accessibility of services in Rhode Island’s nursing homes.
   Let’s hope the General Assembly heeds the wishes of Rhode Island’s citizens.
   Note: The survey referenced in this article polled 400 likely Rhode Island voters and has an accuracy of plus or minus 4.9 percent at a 95 percent confidence level. The survey was commissioned by the Rhode Island Health Care Association (RIHCA), the state’s largest association of skilled nursing and rehabilitation providers.

   Joan M. Woods is chair of the Rhode Island Health Care Association (RIHCA), a nonprofit association comprised of about two-thirds of the state’s skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities. She is also executive administrator of the Genesis HealthCare Grand Islander Center in Middletown. She can be reached at (401) 849-7100 or joan.woods@genesishcc.com.

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