Texas Health Care Association Testimony Warns Lawmakers of Impact of Continued Nursing Home Care Funding Squeeze

In Testimony Regarding Nursing Homes' Changing Patient Mix and Culture Transformation, THCA Stresses the Importance of Stable and Adequate Medicaid Funding

AUSTIN, Texas, March 22, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In testimony today before the Joint Legislative Committee on Aging, Texas Health Care Association (THCA) President Tim Graves warned that an ongoing cumulative Medicare and Medicaid funding squeeze is causing significant stress on Texas' provision of quality long term care, and that new discussions in Washington about still more Medicare cuts – on top of the 3 percent state Medicaid funding reduction in 2011 – are a cause of great concern to facilities, caregivers and residents alike.

"Texas nursing homes experienced a phased-in 10 year $1.6 billion Medicare reduction in 2009, a $58 million reduction in state Medicaid nursing home funding in 2011, and $234 million reduction in 2012 in Medicare-funded nursing home care for Texas seniors – a 10.4 percent rate reduction," Graves testified. "Prior to these actions, Texas nursing home care had repeatedly ranked 49th in the nation for Medicaid reimbursement in recent years. The funding squeeze is significant."

Joining Graves was Darlene Evans, THCA board member and operator of the Autumn Winds Retirement Lodge in Schertz, who testified regarding Texas nursing homes' changing patient mix and facilities' care improvements, technology upgrades and facility updates to address residents' growing care needs. Evans noted that due to a changing patient population Texas' modern nursing facilities now provide a wider variety of complex care services than ever before, and that facilities are increasingly utilized for post-acute, rehabilitative care that allows residents to recuperate and return home following short-term care.

"While there will always be patients that require traditional long-term nursing care, rehabilitation and therapy care services at Texas' nursing facilities are expanding to offer new technologies and comprehensive therapies that can treat higher-acuity patients in a cost-effective setting," said Evans. "But this dramatic shift in care services – coupled with the fact that 10,000 U.S. baby boomers are turning 65 every day – results in a greater burden on Texas' and our nation's nursing home care, and it is now more important than ever to protect stable Medicaid and Medicare funding for skilled nursing care."

Evans noted that facilities like Autumn Winds throughout Texas are an increasingly important part of Texas' health system, especially in rural areas, and that when nursing homes are forced to close due to funding instability, the resulting dislocation for patients, staff and the entire town can be devastating.

"With more than seventy percent of Texas' nursing home patients funded by Medicaid and Medicare combined, the importance of these programs is crystal clear," added Evans. "As discussions are carried out in Austin and in Washington about the future of Medicare and Medicaid, there must be a greater understanding of the role facilities like ours have in our area – as trusted caregivers, stable employers and vital contributors to the well being of the surrounding community itself."

Founded in 1950, the Texas Health Care Association (THCA) is the largest long term care association in Texas. THCA represents a broad spectrum of long term care providers and professionals offering long term, rehabilitative and specialized health care services. Member facilities, owned by both for-profit and non-profit entities, include nursing facilities, specialized rehabilitation facilities, and assisted living facilities.

SOURCE Texas Health Care Association