AHCA, Alliance Praise Bipartisan Johnson, Collins Letter Urging Rejection of Bush Med...( Letter to Senate Budget Leaders S...),Health

Letter to Senate Budget Leaders Spotlights "Perpetual Underfunding of Medicaid Skilled Nursing Facility Care;"

New Zogby Poll Shows 63% of Likely Voters Oppose Cutting Oldest Seniors' Medicare-Financed Nursing Home Care

WASHINGTON, March 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Health Care Association (AHCA) and Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care today praised a new bipartisan letter from U.S. Senators Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Susan Collins (R-ME) to Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Ranking Member Judd Gregg (R-NH) urging the Committee to "strongly oppose cuts to Medicare and Medicaid in the Administration's FY 2009 budget, especially those affecting long term care." Senators Johnson and Collins also have initiated a "Dear Colleague" letter effort to rally support in the U.S. Senate and encourage their colleagues to join them in opposing the Administration's proposed nearly $24 billion, five-year cuts to Medicare for skilled nursing care.

"This new bipartisan effort from Senators Johnson and Collins is a strong beginning in the U.S. Senate toward ensuring the Administration's proposed cuts to seniors' vital Medicare-financed nursing home care is eliminated, and we thank them for their efforts," stated Bruce Yarwood, President and CEO of AHCA. "The Johnson-Collins letter is also significant because it draws needed attention to the chronic Medicaid underfunding crisis, which becomes still more problematic for patients and facilities when Medicare-funded nursing home care is cut in the manner proposed by the Bush Administration."

Alan Rosenbloom, President of the Alliance, stated, "The Bush Administration's budget is shortsighted and largely ignores the new realities of the Medicare post-acute marketplace, to the detriment of Medicare beneficiaries and the health care workers on whom they rely for quality services. Beyond taking a giant step backwards in the profession's ongoing efforts to achieve qualit
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