According to a new report from Kaiser Health News, “The Biden administration is considering a requirement that the nation’s 15,500 nursing homes spend most of their payments from Medicaid on direct care for residents and limit the amount that is used for operations, maintenance, and capital improvements or diverted to profits.
If adopted, it would be the first time the federal government insists that nursing homes devote the majority of Medicaid dollars to caring for residents.”
The report points out that “Medicaid … pays the bills for 62% of long-term care residents in nursing homes. In 2019, that totaled $50.8 billion. Medicare, which covers short-term nursing home visits for older adults or people with disabilities, spent $38.2 billion that year.”
It further points out that the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) does not require a specific number of care givers for each patient, even though studies have shown that there is a “strong connection” between the number of caregivers and the quality of care for each patient.
Nursing home industry groups “oppose requirements,” according to the article. Among other things, they “… argue that forcing owners to spend more money on direct care leaves less money for maintaining their facilities and that the quality of care will suffer. They also claim Medicaid doesn’t cover the cost of caring for residents.”
You can read the entire report by clicking HERE.
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