The American Health Care Association (AHCA) has released a report that announced not-so-good news regarding Medicaid reimbursement. Such a study is no surprise, given state budget shortfalls and a health care law that will add millions more Americans to the Medicaid rolls. Medicaid payments to nursing facilities are about to get lower. An excerpt from McKnight’s:
Eljay [which conducted the study on AHCA’s behalf] on analysts and AHCA state affiliates attribute the shortfall to a slower-than-anticipated economic recovery and regulatory adjustments to Medicaid and Medicare this year.
And while many providers have relied on Medicare to subsidize Medicaid patients, they will lose that patch in 2012. “The combined shortfall of both Medicare and Medicaid is projected to exceed $2 billion, marking an end to the current reliance on Medicare cross-subsidization of Medicaid shortfalls and the beginning of greater uncertainty,” the report states.
Eljay President Joseph Lubarsky, who authored the report, said at least 60% of states are struggling with reduced Medicaid rates or had no rate increases in fiscal year 2012.
AHCA President and CEO Mark Parkinson said that it’s clear from this report that operators are “on the brink.”
“As good as nursing facilities have been this year in providing quality care, they deserve more than a lump of coal this Christmas through these massive Medicaid shortfalls,” Parkinson said.
For more information, download the 42-page PDF file, A Report on Shortfalls in Medicaid Funding for Nursing Home Care.