As Medicaid reimbursement rates for all providers may be reduced by 10 percent in the current budget battle, nursing facilities would be hit harder than other providers. According to the Texas Tribune, the shortfall is caused by a lower level of tax funding, an increased number of beneficiaries set to enter the system, and fewer federal matching funds.
Texas has over 1,000 nursing facilities, and at least half could close because of reduced Medicaid payment rates. An excerpt:
The care provided in-house ranges from feeding, changing and bathing residents several times per day to physical therapy and medical procedures like IV drips, dialysis and the use of negative-pressure therapy to treat open wounds like bed sores.
William Ehrle, 53, has lived at Cedar View since late 2009.
“The food is going to be lacking; the staff is going to be overworked,” said Mr. Ehrle, a former lobbyist at the Capitol who received a cancer diagnosis 11 years ago. He suffered a stroke during chemotherapy that paralyzed the left side of his body, and Medicaid became his lifeline. The lingering effects of the stroke include slurred speech and a tendency to fall. He said his only goal was to walk soon so he could return home to his girlfriend.
“These people are just here, and none of them want to be here,” he said of Cedar View residents. “They’d love to be back with their families, but they just can’t. Their families either won’t or can’t take care of them.”
Derek Prince, the president and chief operating officer of Cedar View’s parent company, Mason Health, also serves as vice chairman of the Texas Health Care Association. He said nursing homes statewide have already cut spending by millions, but that he believes further cuts will compromise patient care.
