May 29, 2009
More than 300 nursing home owners and operators are expected to meet in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday to try to persuade lawmakers to be generous with Medicare funding. The Obama budget proposal for fiscal 2010, combined with a standard marketbasket update, would leave providers about $330 million, or about $17 per resident day, below this year's payment levels. Providers will be taking their cues from top lobbyists at the American Health Care Association's spring conference before storming Capitol Hill for visits with their Congressmen and Senators. "Top policy issues will be Medicare funding, the proposals for bundling of post-acute payments, and defeating arbitration legislation that would prohibit the use of pre-dispute arbitration agreements," an AHCA spokeswoman said.