Two of the nation’s largest long-term care provider groups have joined together to launch a national radio, television and print advertising campaign to protest the proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid funding.

The campaign is aimed at members of Congress and the public, according to the American Health Care Association and The Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care. Ads will be placed in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, as well as in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Ohio and South Dakota.

President Bush’s FY 2007 budget proposal calls for $8.5 billion in Medicare payment cuts skilled nursing care for the elderly who rely such services as rehabilitative care after strokes or hip fractures. The plan also calls for $2.1 billion in cuts to the nation’s Medicaid programs.