A House healthcare reform bill and a new government regulation together would cut Medicare payments to nursing homes by $44 billion over 10 years.That is according to a new analysis by the American Health Care Association.
Meanwhile, each of 15 states stand to lose more than $1 billion over that time period, AHCA said Thursday. The association based its findings on a House bill that would eliminate the Medicare market basket and a new regulation from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that recalibrates Medicare payment rates. This regulation is set to begin Oct. 1.
“Arguments being made that seniors’ benefits will not be reduced by the House bill ignore the fact that when Medicare cuts provider reimbursement, providers, in turn, are forced to cut staff because labor expenses comprise 70 percent of facility costs,” Bruce Yarwood, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association, said in a statement. “Cutting staff within a facility, has a direct, immediate, negative impact on patients and their care-and that is what the House bill will do.”
See more about the states facing the cutbacks at www.ahca.org.
