Image of male nurse pushing senior woman in a wheelchair in nursing facility

The New York Association of Homes & Services for the Aging urged state lawmakers to reconsider efforts to cut nursing home payments because decreased funding could put many of the state’s homes and their residents in jeopardy.

In a March 7 report on nursing home finances issued during NYAHSA’s annual legislative day, the organization said that the nearly $500 million in Medicaid cuts New York legislators propose could spell financial doom for about 140 of the state’s more fiscally vulnerable nursing homes.

Medicaid cuts in the proposed 2005-2006 state budget would increase the operating loss for a typical nursing home by almost 800%, according some of the findings in the NYAHSA’s report, “Situation Critical: New York’s Nursing Homes Face Growing Threat.” The report contains the analysis of certified financial statements from over 500 nursing homes for a three-year period.

“Actions must be taken to ensure that our state’s frail elderly and disabled citizens have a full range of long-term care services available to them today and into the future. It can be accomplished, but not if we gut the system with the proposed cuts,” said Carl Young, NYAHSA president.