April 12, 2013
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) met Wednesday to discuss budget negotiations. The architects of the House and Senate budgets had a "constructive discussion" and are "working to find common ground," according to a joint statement. Medicare funding is one major roadblock to an agreement.
Substantial Medicare cuts will be on the table after the White House budget is released Wednesday, administration officials have indicated. The proposed budget is expected to include about $400 billion in Medicare savings over 10 years.
April 01, 2013
The House Budget Committee approved the latest spending plan from Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) in March. The vote was 22 to 17 along party lines.
March 25, 2013
Both houses of Congress passed budgets late last week, setting up the next phase of the ongoing debate over healthcare spending.
Senate Budget Chairman Patty Murray (D-WA) unveiled a proposed budget Wednesday, offering a plan that contrasts with the one offered earlier in the week by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI).
March 13, 2013
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) submitted a proposed budget calling for large cuts to Medicaid and partial privatization of Medicare on Tuesday. The budget — which includes repealing the Affordable Care Act — would save the federal government $2.5 trillion in healthcare costs over the next decade, according to Ryan.
February 04, 2013
The Obama administration will not cut Medicaid spending in its upcoming 2014 budget proposal, according to senior White House advisor Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council. Sperling spoke Thursday at a Washington, D.C., event sponsored by Families USA, an advocacy group for healthcare consumers.
Nursing homes could be hurt if the federal government lowers the Medicaid provider tax safe harbor threshold to reduce the national deficit, according to a January report from the Congressional Research Service.
January 23, 2013
Medicare and Medicaid funds could face steep cuts in the House of Representatives' 2014 budget. GOP congressional leaders have promised dramatic spending reductions to rally conservative support for a three-month extension of the nation's debt ceiling without the condition of spending cuts. With a debt ceiling extension approved, legislators likely would tackle sequestration cuts scheduled to take effect March 1.
January 16, 2013
Nursing homes could be hurt if the federal government lowers or eliminates the Medicaid provider tax threshold to reduce the national deficit, according to a recent report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
December 21, 2012
As lawmakers negotiated a budget deal Thursday, the American Health Care Association voiced its objection to cutting the Medicaid Provider Assessment statutory threshold.
December 06, 2012
A group of 20 national healthcare organizations supporting current allowable "bed tax" levels, have asked the ceiling not be changed as part of current federal budget talks in a letter sent Tuesday to President Obama and the leaders of Congress.
October 10, 2012
Like a pedestrian at a dangerous intersection, long-term care providers find themselves waiting for the stoplight to change when it comes to reimbursement policy.
May 22, 2012
There is many a manager who has been told "work on the budget" and left to sink or swim. If that's different in your facility — that is, if each nurse manager is giving a course in the budgeting — I congratulate you. Otherwise, I have a helpful recommendation.
May 22, 2012
There is many a manager who has been told "work on the budget" and left to sink or swim. If that's different in your facility — that is, if each nurse manager is giving a course in the budgeting — I congratulate you. Otherwise, I have a helpful recommendation.
May 22, 2012
There is many a manager who has been told "work on the budget" and left to sink or swim. If that's different in your facility — that is, if each nurse manager is giving a course in the budgeting — I congratulate you. Otherwise, I have a helpful recommendation.
April 11, 2012
The fiscal 2013 budget, which was passed in the House, would cause seniors' healthcare costs to surge and wreak havoc on Medicare and Medicaid, two new reports suggest.
March 26, 2012
It's becoming increasingly obvious that our elected leaders need to quit playing political chicken. Otherwise, there are going to be some bleak days ahead for We the People.
March 20, 2012
The proposed fiscal 2013 budget released by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) Tuesday would repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut Medicaid spending by $810 billion over 10 years.
March 19, 2012
An analysis of President Obama's proposed fiscal 2013 budget found it would lower government spending on Medicare by $276 billion and Medicaid by $66 billion over 10 years.
February 08, 2012
Provider groups are urging President Obama to consider nursing home funding when he releases his fiscal 2013 budget next week. The budget proposal is expected to include Medicare cuts worth $248 billion and Medicaid cuts of up to $72 billion.
February 07, 2012
President Obama's 2013 budget proposal calls for spending cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, including a reduction in Medicare payments to nursing homes.
LeadingAge President and CEO Larry Minnix openly acknowledged Wednesday afternoon that the next two years could be tense and difficult for long-term care providers. He was just one of a handful of experts painting a grave outlook.
In the midst of glum employment news, the assisted living sector offers a bright spot: It created 3,900 jobs in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The U.S. Senate's vote rejecting Republicans' proposed 2012 budget — and all of its provisions to drastically overhaul Medicare and Medicaid — means both sides are back to debating how to best balance the federal budget.
May 24, 2011
One of the realities of the national budget crisis is that government funding for age-related health conditions — particularly Alzheimer's — is drying up, says a new report from the Alzheimer's Foundation of America.
April 18, 2011
Voting along party lines, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Rep. Paul Ryan's proposed fiscal year 2012 budget Friday.
April 05, 2011
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan says his proposed 2012 budget would give Medicaid "back to the states" in the form of block grants, and give seniors a list of privately run insurance programs to sign up for instead of the federally funded Medicare program.
Medicaid cost-cutting strategies the Department of Health and Human Services has suggested to states will not be enough to close $175 billion in cumulative budget gaps—and that's the way it should be. And that's according to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, based on remarks she made Friday.
President Obama is expected to release his budget proposal for fiscal 2012 on Monday, and it's not a document long-term care providers are happily anticipating. Lobbying intensified over the last several weeks, as advocates for many industries and groups—long-term care certainly among them-pushed statistics favorable to their cause. Some fear a call for significant Medicare and Medicaid cuts in the president's proposal. That would, no doubt, kick off a round of even more intense lobbying.
