Alliance President Alan Rosenbloom

Two lobby groups representing the nation’s for-profit nursing homes kicked off a nationwide ad campaign Monday aimed at preventing additional cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.

The multimillion-dollar ad buy, launched by the American Health Care Association and the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care, features a television ad running in eight states: Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, Nevada, Virginia and Washington. The television spot, which places an emphasis on the role nurses play in long-term care, will run through Sept. 6, according to AHCA’s Vice President of Public Affairs, Greg Crist.

Crist says the first phase of this informational campaign will focus predominantly on television ads as well as social media. Later this fall, the list of states will grow as the Alliance and AHCA distribute paid print pieces and multimedia.

“This is part of a larger effort we started when the skilled-nursing facility prospective payment system changes were announced,” Crist told McKnight’s. “We are doing some grassroots activities, offering facility/site visits, tours, town halls, and drawing attention. This is very much an information campaign.”

“As Congress returns for its fall session, they can’t forget the providers and care they give to patients and residents,” Crist added.

The ad buy will also reinforce nursing homes’ role as a job generator in the healthcare sector. Job growth is expected to be a top issue in the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.

“As America’s second largest health facility employer, we also intend to make clear our sector cannot be expected on the one hand to continue being the reliable jobs partner we have proven to be even in this continuing economic downturn, while, on the other, absorbing one deep funding reduction after another,” said Alliance President Alan Rosenbloom in a statement.