Increased Medicaid Reimbursement for Nursing Homes.
By Steve Gold
Steve Gold
The American Health Care Association, the national trade organization for the nursing home industry, and the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care have been on You Tube with a “Care Not Cuts” campaign. These two organizations have mounted a sophisticated campaign on behalf of nursing homes and against cut-backs for their clients - the nursing homes. . Their common thread: Medicaid reductions have hurt nursing homes.
What they do not state is the average Medicaid per diem expenditure continues to increase significantly. What they do not tell you is what your State spends to keep people institutionalized. They also do not tell you that each State could save a bundle of money by moving people into the community.
In 2009, Medicaid nationally spent more than $50 billion on nursing home care.
The state-by-state data below is from an AHCA report. It provides the average Medicaid expenditure your State spent per person per day for nursing homes in 2010. (This data may not even include additional Medicaid expenditures other than what was paid to the nursing homes.)
A number of States did not provide the information and are not included below.
We also calculated the percentage increase from 2006 to 2010 for the average Medicaid expenditure per diem per person for each State.
If you multiple the 2010 per diem amount by 365 days, you’ll compute the average annual MA expenditure in your State per person in a nursing home. Yes, it’s a big business and the elderly and disabled are the cash cows that keep the Medicaid funds flowing.
Where is the home-care industry’s campaign? What are the elderly and disabled advocates doing to counter the misinformation that the nursing home industry is putting out? Who is mounting a campaign “Care In My Home - Not Nursing Homes”?
Steve Gold, The Disability Odyssey continues
| STATE | PER DAY 2010 | % INCREASE FROM 2006 | COST PER YEAR |
| Arizona | $ 166.99 | 16.2 | $ 60,951.35 |
| California. | $ 164.65 | 12.2 | $ 60,097.25 |
| Colorado | $ 188.76 | 15.6 | $ 68,897.40 |
| Connecticut. | $ 221.38 | 7.6 | $ 80,803.70 |
| Delaware | $ 206.36 | -2.9 | $ 75,321.40 |
| Florida. | $ 202.66 | 18.2 | $ 73,970.90 |
| Georgia. | $ 139.84 | 16 | $ 51,041.60 |
| Hawaii. | $ 231.67 | 15.3 | $ 84,559.55 |
| Idaho | $ 193.56 | 20.5 | $ 70,649.40 |
| Illinois | $ 117.57 | 17.5 | $ 42,913.05 |
| Indiana | $ 151.78 | 12.4 | $ 55,399.70 |
| Iowa. | $ 139.23 | 20.1 | $ 50,818.95 |
| Kansas | $ 132.41 | 11.8 | $ 48,329.65 |
| Maine. | $ 178.11 | 7.5 | $ 65,010.15 |
| Maryland | $ 212.89 | 12.4 | $ 77,704.85 |
| Massachus | $ 196.09 | 8 | $ 71,572.85 |
| Michigan | $ 205.54 | 16.5 | $ 75,022.10 |
| Minnesota | $ 162.91 | 12 | $ 59,462.15 |
| Missouri | $ 132.69 | 17.5 | $ 48,431.85 |
| Montana. | $ 167.43 | 10.2 | $ 61,111.95 |
| Nebraska | $ 143.37 | 4.9 | $ 52,330.05 |
| Nevada. | $ 183.01 | 10 | $ 66,798.65 |
| New Hampshire | $ 195.21 | 9.8 | $ 71,251.65 |
| New Jersey. | $ 204.96 | 7.6 | $ 74,810.40 |
| New York | $ 216.50 | 9.6 | $ 79,022.50 |
| North Dakota | $ 194.36 | 23.5 | $ 70,941.40 |
| Ohio | $ 177.45 | 8.2 | $ 64,769.25 |
| Oklahoma | $ 128.89 | 9.1 | $ 47,044.85 |
| Oregon | $ 217.14 | 17.3 | $ 79,256.10 |
| Pennsylvania | $ 205.96 | 12.6 | $ 75,175.40 |
| South Carolina. | $ 154.12 | 11.3 | $ 56,253.80 |
| South Dakota. | $ 128.76 | 12.2 | $ 46,997.40 |
| Tennessee | $ 144.63 | 9.4 | $ 52,789.95 |
| Texas | $ 126.29 | 16.5 | $ 46,095.85 |
| Utah | $ 161.54 | 11.6 | $ 58,962.10 |
| Vermont | $ 182.56 | 12 | $ 66,634.40 |
| Virginia. | $ 143.60 | 7.7 | $ 52,414.00 |
| Washington. | $ 161.03 | 13.8 | $ 58,775.95 |
| Wisconsin | $ 154.56 | 15.4 | $ 56,414.40 |
| Wyoming | $ 164.03 | 14.9 | $ 59,870.95 |
To contact Steve Gold directly, write to stevegoldada1@gmail.com or call 215-627-7100.
Back issues of other Information Bulletins are available online at http://www.stevegoldada.com with a searchable Archive at this site divided into different subjects. Information Bulletins are also be posted on my blog located at http://stevegoldada.blogspot.com/