Long-term care group urges Super Committee to preserve federal funding
With the Congressional Super Committee charged with finding $1.5 trillion in budget cuts now named, healthcare organizations representing community care givers and nursing homes and long-term care insurance providers are stepping up to urge lawmakers to preserve funding for these vital health services.
"This distinguished bipartisan group of lawmakers is charged with a budgetary balancing act of historic proportion, and we respectfully ask that they ensure the most vulnerable seniors in their state, and the jobs of their dedicated caregivers, receive the funding priority warranted," said Alan G. Rosenbloom, president of the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care, in a prepared statement. "The nursing home sector intends to put forward several substantive policy initiatives designed to maximize efficiency in Medicare spending, and we look forward to working with the Super Committee to discuss and implement them."
While the first phase of the deal did not touch Medicare or Medicaid funds, declarations from congressional leaders indicating that everything will be on the table for the Super Committee has some preparing for the worst.
LTC Financial Partners, LLC, one of the country's largest providers of long-term care insurance announced this week that it will host a series of 30-minute presentations aimed at preparing people in need of long-term care services on how to create the proper mix of insurance and government assistance to meet their needs.
"It looks like Americans will need to rely more on themselves, and less on Uncle Sam, when they need help with the tasks of daily living," said Denise Gott, LTCFP's board chair. "That's why we're offering our free seminars and talks, to reassure people and spell out all the options."
Rosenbloom also pointed out that any more cuts in federal programs would contribute to increased instability in the nursing home sector, an area that is already operating with the lowest operating margins of all provider groups in the country.
"Without exception, each of the Super Committee members have an awareness of the challenge faced by their home state nursing facilities in dealing with the cumulative Medicare-Medicaid funding squeeze, and we will continue to discuss how and why strong funding of each program is integral to preservation of quality care and local jobs," Rosenbloom added.
The bipartisan Super Committee was fully-staffed this week after House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi made her three appointments. The bipartisan committee has 12 members, evenly divided among senators and representatives, and republicans and democrats. It is charged with making recommendations to Congress on how to achieve $1.5 trillion in cuts over ten years and requires both houses of Congress to vote either up or down, without ammendments, on their recommendations. Failure to approve the Super Committee's recommendations will result in across-the-board cuts to all government programs to achieve the budget savings.
Members of the committee are: Senators John Kyl (R-Ariz.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Representatives Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), Dave Camp (R-Mich.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.)
