Many long-term care providers prefer the Senate reconciliation bill to the House bill. The latter’s tough stance on asset transfers ultimately would over burden facilities, they say.

The House bill, which was passed earlier this month, would change the beginning of the penalty phase for the improper transfer of assets by Medicaid applicants to coincide with a nursing home stay. Such a provision forces facilities to collect from individuals who can neither pay privately nor are eligible for Medicaid during their penalty phase, according to the American Health Care Association.

The bill also proposes extending the look-back period to five years from three. Such a measure would “exacerbate the unreimbursed care-effects of the change in penalty date,” the AHCA said in a statement, noting that it supports the look-back extension alone.