(Chicago) -- According to the Illinois Council on
Long Term Care, many nursing facilities will have to
close their doors if the state's proposed Medicaid
budget is passed -- one that cuts funding to Illinois
nursing homes by 8.8% and completely eliminates
bedhold payments in Medicaid. These Medicaid cuts
threaten the status of the more than 50,000 Illinois
residents on Medicaid in Illinois nursing homes,
constituting almost two-thirds of the state's total
population. The State of Illinois has a moral
obligation to provide adequate funding to properly
care for these residents.
"Elderly persons in Illinois nursing homes
represent our fathers and mothers, grandmothers and
grandfathers," said Terrence Sullivan, executive
director of the Illinois Council. "Nursing
facilities watch over those who cared for us. The
moral compass of a society is seen in how it values
its children and its seniors. The proposed state
budget has increased funding for Illinois schools; but
it has taken $171 million away from the guardianship
of some of our most frail and vulnerable members of
our society. The state's budget should not have to
provide additional funding to children at the expense
of our state's frail seniors."
The oldest old (85 years and above) is the fastest
growing segment of our society. Between 1994 and 2020,
America's 85 and older population is projected to
double to 7 million and swell to between 19 and 27
million by 2050. People age 85 and older are the
heaviest users of long term care -- nearly one in four
lived in a nursing home in 1990. The decisions that
are made now regarding funding for long term care will
be laying the groundwork for how millions of people
will be cared for in the future.
"Nursing homes are already struggling to get
by on Medicaid funding," explains Sullivan.
"In the year 2000, 12 Illinois nursing homes went
out of business due to inadequate funding. In 2001,
that number rose to 18. If the proposed Medicaid cuts
go through, many more will have to close their doors.
Many facilities that have closed or are in danger of
bankruptcy are in smaller downstate communities that
already lack enough nursing homes to properly care for
their areas' frail elderly."
The Illinois Council recommends that, with a
recession budget, the best solution to avoiding
devastating cuts to Medicaid is to temporarily
increase the provider license assessment. By raising
money through a provider license assessment, all
monies raised will be matched by the federal
government.
"Increasing the provider license assessment
will cost the state nothing and will also prevent the
loss of needed Medicaid matching funds," states
Sullivan. "Rather than lose federal funds, an
increased license assessment brings more federal funds
to Illinois to help solve the state’s budget
problems. Increasing the provider license assessment
is the most practical solution to maintaining the
safety net of long term care for our state’s elderly
citizens, an ethical imperative for a caring, healthy
society."
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The Illinois Council on Long Term Care is an
association of nursing home professionals representing
200 facilities employing 26,000 staff members who
serve over 38,000 residents. More information on long
term care issues can be found at the Council's web
site
