More states would face cuts in nursing home funding in President Bush’s proposed FY 2007 budget.
Last week I blogged about the proposed budget’s effect on Louisiana. An accounting firm called BDO Seidman and the American Health Care Association analyzed the FY 2007 budget proposal and found that Louisiana would face a $70.2 million cut in nursing home funding. According to the same analysis, California’s nursing home funding would be cut by $125 million.
From the press release:
“The President’s FY 2007 budget seeks to reduce quality assurance fees, often characterized as a ‘provider tax,’ under which providers put up the seed money and then the states use that money to leverage an equal amount from the federal government under the 50/50 Medicaid match system. If the amount of funding available through the provider tax provision is reduced, there is not enough new money to implement the quality improvements anticipated in AB 1629,” said Jim Gomez, President and CEO of the California Association of Health Facilities (CAHF).
In 2004, the California legislature passed, and Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 1629, landmark nursing home reform legislation designed specifically to improve care in California’s 1,100 free-standing skilled nursing facilities.
In other nursing home news, the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) has released a provider letter to inform nursing facilities of the findings of a recent review by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
In a review of Texas Medicaid Long Term Care payments for beneficiaries covered by Medicare and Medicaid, DHHS found that in some cases, Medicaid pays for services already paid by Medicare. DADS reminds nursing facilities of their responsibility for proper reporting. You may download the letter here.