Nursing home owners in Florida have been breathing easier since the Legislature decided not to reduce funding for the 460-plus facilities.
Nursing homes in the state had been facing a 10% Medicaid rate reduction, which would have amounted to $77 million over the next six months. But the Legislature on Saturday settled on a creative solution.
Beginning in April, facilities will levy a 5% “quality assessment” fee on themselves. As a result of that, they can draw down more federal funds and create a total of $166 million. The federal-state funding formula for Medicaid is 55% to 45%. The net result will be an increase of $89 million, which makes up for cuts endured last year. Budgetary language requires nursing homes to spend money on improving quality of care.
