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Illinois Council on Long Term
Care
Illinois Health Care Association
Life Services Network of Illinois
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 27, 2006
100% of Illinois Legislative
Candidates Support Full Funding for Specialized Care in
Nursing Homes
CHICAGO - One-hundred percent of
the 57 state candidates responding to a recent survey
believe that Illinois should fully fund the new Medicaid
reimbursement system that will allow nursing homes to
meet the health care needs of their medically-complex
residents.
“We are very pleased that these
candidates recognize the importance of strengthening the
safety net of care for Illinois’ elderly and disabled
citizens,” said Terry Sullivan, executive director of
the Illinois Council on Long Term Care. “Illinois
nursing home residents gave us their best. Now, they
deserve our best.”
The Illinois Council, Illinois Health
Care Association and Life Services Network of Illinois
recently distributed a questionnaire about the key
issues affecting the future of long term care to all
state candidates running for representative and senator.
Nursing home residents have far more
complex needs than a decade ago. For the past three
years, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family
Services has worked hand-in-hand with a clinical team
from nursing homes around the state to develop a new,
state-of-the-art clinical assessment and reimbursement
system, simply called the MDS.
This patient-centered assessment
emphasizes the rehabilitative care, specialized
Alzheimer’s services, ventilator technology, and other
high-skilled specialized care that previously required
more expensive hospital settings.
“Today’s nursing homes are very
different than the `rest homes’ of yesteryear,” said
Dave Voepel, executive director for the Illinois Health
Care Association. “Since 1986, the nursing home
community has received Medicaid payments based on an
outdated reimbursement model that doesn’t recognize
the sophisticated medical services that nursing
facilities now provide. The new MDS Medicaid model
provides appropriate funding for the advanced care of
today’s complex patients.”
During this past session, the
legislature placed a down payment of $30 million to get
this new Medicaid reimbursement system started. To phase
in the rest of the system over the next four years, the
long term care community will need $100 million GRF a
year, which will be matched by another $100 million from
the federal government.
“Under this plan, these funds will
be matched with federal funds to create the $800 million
necessary to finally address the treatment needs of
seniors in nursing homes,” said Illinois House
Minority Leader Lou Lang (D-16, Skokie). “Currently,
Illinois’ Medicaid reimbursement to nursing homes is
among the five lowest states in the nation. With the
full funding of the new MDS reimbursement system,
Illinois’ funding level will be in line with the rest
of the nation.”
Dennis Bozzi, executive director of
Life Services Network of Illinois said, “The old
Medicaid reimbursement system froze the assessment of
patient medical conditions at 1993 levels and medical
costs at 1999 levels. This antiquated formula has caused
complex care for seniors to be severely underfunded for
years on a compounding basis. Our state candidates need
to fully fund the new Medicaid reimbursement system, to
ensure that nursing home residents receive the advanced
health care services they deserve.”
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