Skilled nursing facilities would lose nearly $3 billion in Medicare Part A payments over five years under the new House SCHIP bill, the Congressional Budget Office estimated.

The Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act of 2007 (CHAMP Act) proposes freezing Medicare payments for 2008 for nursing homes. The CBO, which released its cost estimates of the $90 billion package, predicted that facilities would lose $2.7 billion from 2008 to 2012; they would lose $6.5 billion from Medicare Part A from 2008 to 2017.

The CHAMP Act “is highly detrimental to the long-term care needs of ‘America’s Greatest Generation’ as well as future generations – contrary to the claims being made by its proponents,” said Bruce Yarwood, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association.