New Study: Texas Seniors 4th Hardest-Hit from Proposed Bush Administration Med...( $47 Million Cut in Year-Ahead Nur...),Health

$47 Million Cut in Year-Ahead Nursing Home Funding Harms Patients, Threatens Key Nursing Staff Jobs

AUSTIN, Texas, May 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Commenting on a newly-released analysis of the Bush Administration's proposed regulatory changes that will cut Medicare-financed nursing home care in Texas by $47 million in the year ahead -- the 4th highest level of cuts in the nation -- the Texas Health Care Association (THCA) today warned the Medicare funding cuts would both harm patient care in Texas' nursing homes, and threaten the key caregiver jobs that make a measurable difference in quality outcomes.

"The Bush Administration's proposed regulatory-driven Medicare funding cuts will severely jeopardize the growing complex care needs of Texas' oldest, sickest seniors -- especially when combined with the existing weakness of Texas' Medicaid program," warned Tim Graves, President of the THCA. "The bottom line is that the federal policy being illogically pursued in Washington will hurt seniors and place in jeopardy the jobs of our front line caregivers in our city, suburban and rural facilities alike."

Earlier today, Bruce Yarwood, President and CEO of the American Health Care Association (AHCA), in Washington, D.C., released an analysis of the cumulative $770 million national Medicare cuts -- proposed by the Administration-directed Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) -- which finds the regulatory changes will incur an $11.12 per patient day (PPD) cut in Medicare-financed nursing home care nationally, and will have the most significant negative impact on seniors in California, Florida, New York, Texas, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan and Massachusetts. The analysis, computed by the AHCA Reimbursement and Research Department using Office of Management and Budget (OMB) data from the Bush Administration's FY 2009 Budget and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), finds the following:
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