(Chicago) -- The state's proposed budget includes
an 8.8 percent cut to Medicaid funding for Illinois
nursing homes, totaling $171 million, along with a
complete elimination of bedhold payments in Medicaid.
Many facilities will have to close their doors if this
proposed Medicaid budget is passed. According to
the Illinois Council on Long Term Care, for those
nursing facilities that survive, the result will be
higher nursing home rates for individuals and family
members who pay privately, as a means of balancing the
Medicaid shortfall.
Currently, about two-thirds of all Illinois nursing
home residents -- more than 50,000 people -- are on
Medicaid, while only 30 percent of these residents pay
privately. Most facilities have a combination of
residents who pay privately and those on Medicaid. So
far, these homes have been able to survive the state’s
low Medicaid funding due to the balancing effects of
higher rates paid by private-pay residents and their
families. Many facilities operate at an average $10-15
dollar per day loss on every Medicaid resident they
serve.
"Under the proposed budget, Illinois nursing
homes will now lose an additional $8.25 per day, on
average, for each resident on Medicaid," said
Terrence Sullivan, executive director of the Illinois
Council on Long Term Care. "Many nursing
facilities simply won’t be able to survive these
financial losses. Other facilities will stay afloat by
raising rates to residents and families who pay for
their care out-of-pocket."
Private pay rates at Illinois nursing homes are
already high – many nursing facilities charge
between $120 and $160 per day. Plummeting Medicaid
reimbursement will lead to these already high rates to
go up even higher. Instead of the State paying for the
care it mandates under Medicaid, costs will ultimately
be shifted to middle-class residents and family
members who pay for care out of their savings.
According to the Illinois Council, the best
solution to avoiding these devastating cuts to
Medicaid is to 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. Rather than lose federal funds, an increased
license assessment brings more federal funds to
Illinois to help solve the state’s budget problems.
"With a recession budget, a temporary increase
in the provider license assessment is the most
practical solution to maintaining the safety net of
long term care for our state’s frail and elderly
citizens, and in minimizing the financial burdens
placed on middle-class residents and families who pay
out-of-pocket for nursing home care," states
Sullivan.
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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
