Senior citizens in Nevada to be affected by the recent House bill

Aug 31 2009

A new American Health Care Association analysis of the pending House health reform bill, combined with the impact of a recently-enacted Medicare regulation cutting Medicare-funded nursing home care by $12 billion over 10 years, finds seniors in Nevada requiring nursing and rehabilitative care will face total funding cuts of $186 million over that same time period. Nationally, the study finds, seniors' Medicare cuts will total $44 billion over 10 years, prompting Nevada’s long term care community to warn that seniors' care needs are endangered by the House bill, as are the jobs of almost 200 caregivers in Nevada alone.

“At Nevada Health Care Association, we are concerned about the impact proposed cuts will have on Nevada seniors' Medicare-funded nursing care and thus, our entire health care system,” said Charles Perry, executive director of the Nevada Health Care Association (NHCA). “We ask that Congress revise its plan to ensure seniors are helped by reform measures.”

Perry urges lawmakers to consider how the cuts will affect senior care, citing that cuts would force providers to cut staff because labor expenses make up 70 percent of facility costs. Cutting staff within a facility has a direct impact on patients and their care.

The new analysis of the House bill's Medicare funding reductions over ten years (combined with the $12 billion ten year Medicare cuts just put into effect by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), is computed by the AHCA Reimbursement and Research Department using the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score of both H.R. 3200 and the recent CMS funding rule, along with Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) utilization data.

In crafting a final bill, Perry also urged lawmakers to take into account the fact the Medicaid program already under funds the cost of providing care by more than $14 million in Nevada according to Eljay, LLC, thereby already placing enormous stress on facilities and staff before federal Medicare cuts even enter the picture. “We believe Congress should preserve, protect and defend seniors' Medicare-funded nursing home care, and we respectfully ask lawmakers to do so when Congress reconvenes in September.”