Contact: Kevin Kavanaugh Director of Public Affairs (773) 478-6613 kkavanaugh@nursinghome.org

May 1, 2001

Professional Nurses Nearly Double in Illinois Nursing Homes; Medicaid Reimbursement Does Not Keep Pace

(CHICAGO) -- Over the past eight years, the average 100 bed nursing home has increased staffing of registered nurses from approximately 4.75 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) registered nurses to 8.7 FTE registered nurses, accounting for an 82 percent increase.

Residents in today's nursing facilities have more complex and sophisticated medical needs, resulting in the need for more registered nurses on staff. Federal government regulations also mandate increased registered nurse staffing, as well as a lengthy assessment and care planning tool that must be coordinated by these nurses.

Medicaid reimbursement has not kept up with the expenses involved in hiring these nurses. Average costs at Illinois nursing homes have increased 51 percent over the last eight years, while the Medicaid rates paid to these facilities have increased only by 29 percent.

Two pieces of legislation rectify this disparity between Medicaid reimbursement and actual nursing home costs, one that affects the 85,000 Illinois nursing home residents who are dependent on Medicaid. Senate Bill 608 requires that Medicaid rates be calculated on current costs and wages, using the 1999 cost reports and not those from 1992.

House Bill 3538 also requires basing Medicaid reimbursement on current costs. Additionally, it requires that Medicaid reimbursement be based on current assessments of resident health care needs, not on resident assessments taken from 1993.

"Senate Bill 608 and House Bill 3538 restore the Illinois safety net for some of our most frail and vulnerable citizens," states Terrence Sullivan, executive director of the Illinois Council on Long Term Care.

The coalition that supports these two pieces of legislation is made up of the state’s four largest professional nursing home associations – the Illinois Council on Long Term Care, Illinois Health Care Association, Life Services Network of Illinois and the County Nursing Home Association -- as well as the state’s largest nursing home employee union – the Service Employees International Union, Local #4. Together they represent more than 54,000 professionals and caregivers serving 73,000 nursing home residents. The Catholic Conference, Community Bankers Association and Metro Counties Association also support these pieces of legislation.

Editor’s note: Original and digital versions of this chart are available for publication.