Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Nursing homes gear up to fight state Medicaid cuts

  • Health
  • by Nicole Leonard | Connecticut Public Radio
  • August 22, 2019
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Nicole Leonard :: Connecticut Public Radio

Margaret DeSousa, a resident at Kimberly Hall South nursing home in Windsor, expresses concern over the facility’s loss of some Medicaid funding.

Executives and labor leaders at a group of skilled nursing homes in Connecticut that are set to lose Medicaid funding plan to challenge the state’s decision — they said otherwise, their nursing homes face severe financial cuts.

“The state has been trying to change the way that long-term care is done, and they’re trying to incentivize home care,” said Jesse Martin, vice president of labor union SEIU 1199NE. “There’s still a vital need for nursing homes in our society.”

Martin met Thursday with state legislators, nursing home operators, residents and health care providers in Windsor at Kimberly Hall South, which is one of nine nursing facilities notified by the state last week of a decrease in its Medicaid reimbursement rates.

The legislature passed a law this year that allows the state to reduce Medicaid money to nursing homes that don’t maintain at least a 70 percent occupancy level. State officials confirmed that a total of about $6 million will be recovered or withheld from the nine nursing homes in a year.

At the same time, 205 out of the 214 operational facilities in Connecticut will get reimbursement increases for having high occupancy levels and good ratings under federal guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

For Kimberly Hall South, which has a federal rating of 4-out-of-5 stars, it means a cut of about $750,000 in funding. The decreases started retroactively on July 1.

Margaret DeSousa, a resident of 14 years, said she worries about the nursing home closing because of the financial hit.

“What happens to me and others in other homes like this? That they close down and want to ship us to other facilities (that) are already filling up,” she said. “We can’t have home care because one, we can’t afford it. Two, if our family don’t want us, because they don’t want anything to do with us or they can’t do it, what happens to us?”

State officials from the Office of Policy and Management said changes to the reimbursement rates are part of a long-term plan to manage the future growth in demand for aging services, especially as the baby boomer generation gets older.

The state commissioned a report from Mercer Human Services Consulting that looked at trends and predictions on care for older residents up to the year 2040. The report projected a “major increase in demand for and use of home care provided through Medicaid” and a drop in demand for care in nursing homes.

An estimated 6,000 current nursing home beds in the state wouldn’t be needed by 2040, which is why state officials said Connecticut needs to start preparing now by shifting resources toward home care infrastructure and support.

“We need to ensure our policies and priorities address this excess capacity and meet this oncoming demand with a continuation and expansion of choices in the marketplace to reflect consumer trends and opportunities to leverage efficiencies in the spectrum of long term care,” Office of Policy and Management Secretary Melissa McCaw said in a statement earlier this month.

Nicole Leonard :: Connecticut Public Radio

Jesse Martin (right), vice president of labor union Local 1199 SEIU, and Sen. Saud Anwar (middle) lead a forum event at Kimberly Hall South nursing home in Windsor to discuss reductions in Medicaid reimbursement rates.

But nursing home leaders at Kimberly Hall South said there’s a flaw in the new Medicaid reimbursement calculations, which needlessly punishes facilities.

Thomas Russo, senior executive director for Genesis Healthcare, which owns five out of the nine affected nursing homes, said Kimberly Hall South is licensed to hold 180 beds. But over the years, the for-profit facility has eliminated some beds in order to create more private residences and specialty units.

For example, Russo said, “just four years ago, we took a whole 30 bed unit and transformed it into a very vibrant dialysis clinic here. We’re providing dialysis services for not just residents here in Windsor, but for residents throughout the state of Connecticut.”

Russo said if state officials visited to see how many beds really existed, they would have realized that occupancy is more than 70 percent.

State officials from the Office of Policy and Management said nursing home facilities will be able to appeal their reimbursement rates under several circumstances.

Several state senators and representatives at Kimberly Hall Thursday said they intend to meet with Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration and other legislators to address what they call an unfair oversight.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nicole Leonard | Connecticut Public Radio

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Nearly three quarters of eligible CT residents expected to be vaccinated by end of April
by Jenna Carlesso

Since Thursday, 50,000 residents age 16 to 44 – the newest group granted access – received a first dose of the vaccine.

With demand for community health workers rising, so does need for sustainable funding
by Cara Rosner | C-HIT.ORG

New Haven Community Health Worker (CHW) Katia Astudillo helps dozens of her clients navigate the logistics of getting vaccinated and connects them with other health services. She even helps them find rental assistance. In and around New London, CHW Lizbeth Polo-Smith hands out flyers about COVID-19 safety and vaccinations at churches, laundromats, stores, warming centers […]

The vaccine effect: COVID cases jump, not hospitalizations or fatalities
by Mark Pazniokas

Officials credit Connecticut’s success in vaccinating older residents for keeping the COVID-19 death rate low as cases rise.

More than 1,800 people could get vaccinated at home under new DPH program
by Dave Altimari and Jenna Carlesso

Residents who wish to receive a vaccine at home must assert they are physically unable to get to a clinic.

Effort to remove CT’s religious exemption from childhood vaccinations heads to House – and Senate
by Jenna Carlesso

It’s unclear which chamber will take up the proposal first.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Enriching the already rich — it’s been the American way.
by David Holahan

There are supposed to be two certainties in life: death and taxes. Here's a 2021 corollary: As the rich get richer and richer, they pay less and less into the U.S. Treasury. It’s no joke, my fellow 1040 filers. A recent study by economists and the IRS found that the richest Americans —yes, those infamous one-percenters— have been cheating on their taxes to the collective tune of at least $175 billion a year.

Opinion There is no equity without standardized race, ethnicity and language data
by The Rev. Robyn Anderson

Over a year into a pandemic that has cost the lives of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other people of color at rates that are unjust and preventable, we cannot allow ourselves or our state to continue to use the word “equity” without the data to show policies really are addressing injustice. We all know the disparities aren’t about race; they’re about racism.

Opinion Baseball is still a civil rights battleground
by Steve Thornton

For over 150 years, the baseball field has been a battleground for civil rights. Bigoted politicians like Texas governor Greg Abbott are still fighting the Civil War — on the wrong side of history.

Opinion Getting connected for Connecticut students
by Sabrina Tucker-Barrett

There is one key to ensuring the success of Connecticut students: we must keep them connected. Whether your children are in fifth grade or freshman year, they have or will continue to learn virtually in some capacity, which means unstable Wi-Fi during class, delays in homework submission or inability to research are unacceptable.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO