Florida long-term care providers issue warning on Medicaid, Medicare cuts
Long-term care leaders in Florida are warning that looming state Medicaid cuts of $199.5 million, in conjunction with federal Medicare cuts of nearly $27 billion, are leading to a "worsening cost squeeze" that risks patient care quality and the jobs of the key frontline caregivers.
"Florida's most vulnerable frail, elderly and disabled citizens face $199.5 million in new Medicaid funding cuts from Tallahassee on top of deep cuts to Medicare, and the cumulative negative impact on patients' care and the viability of our caregiver jobs base in communities throughout Florida is a matter of growing concern," said Tony Marshall, senior director of reimbursement for the Florida Health Care Association.
As 2010 began, Florida faced a $3.2 billion deficit due to declining revenues and expanding Medicaid rolls resulting from the state's high unemployment rate.
Several weeks ago, Marshall said, state lawmakers crafted a $70 billion state budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year that includes a seven percent cut to Medicaid-funded nursing home care - which amounts to a reduction of $199.5 million.
Marshall wants Congress to approve the extension of enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) funding, as doing so would ensure Florida nursing homes would experience a lower, five percent Medicaid rate reduction. Funding cuts could be reduced to $142 million if FMAP is passed.
Lawmakers did give nursing homes the ability to buy back the entire rate reduction included in the 2010-11 budget through an expanded Nursing Home Quality Assessment, contingent on this FMAP extension.
"Swift action must be taken because the only way nursing homes can avert these funding cuts is if Congress takes action before Florida's fiscal year begins on July 1st," Marshall said. "Without this assistance, nursing homes, on average, will see a loss of $310,000 annually, or $12.82 per patient per day."
Medicaid underfunds the actual cost of providing quality long-term care in most states, making Medicare funding critical to helping supplement inadequate Medicaid payments.
Ken Ragin, the administrator of Huntington Place Care and Rehabilitation Center in Rockledge, Fla., expressed alarm that the dual Medicaid and Medicare cuts could undermine his facility operations by threatening the jobs of frontline care staff.
"This is a facility that attracts committed, dedicated caregivers - and it is our sincere hope that Congress and the President will refrain from any further Medicare cuts," Ragin said. "Given our current state of financial instability, extending FMAP is vital to quality patient care."
According to Tiffany Bishop, a CNA at Huntington Place, seventy percent of facility costs at her facility are directly related to staffing.
"Adequate, stable and consistent Medicaid and Medicare funding was and always will be directly linked with high quality care and staffing and employment stability," she said.
