MedPAC's recent recommendations to revise the payment
system for skilled nursing facilities drew praise Monday from the head of the
largest nonprofit association for long-term care providers.
"We think they're right on target," Larry
Minnix, president and CEO of the American Association of Homes and Services for
the Aging, told McKnight's. "We've been saying for a long time that those
nursing homes, whether not-for-profit or for-profit, are taking care of the
complex medical patients that are not the more profitable market niches. Those
nursing homes ought to be paid more for those complex medical patients."
MedPAC, the Medicare advisory body of Congress, on Friday
released its June 2008 Report to the Congress: Reforming the Delivery System.
The report offered reform across the Medicare payment system. Regarding SNFs,
the panel recommended revising the payment system to incorporate a nontherapy
ancillary payment component, a therapy payment component, and an outlier policy
based on exceptionally high ancillary costs per stay.