As NGA Meeting Concludes, National Health Leaders Stress Vital Medicaid-Medicare Link
- With Emergency Medicaid Funding Ending in June, FY 2012 Budget Requires Stable Medicare Funding -
Washington, DC – As the National Governors’ Association (NGA) Winter Meeting concludes today, two key health leaders pointed out that with supplemental state Medicaid funds (FMAP) scheduled to end on June 30, 2011, stable and adequate federal Medicare funding in the FY 2012 federal budget will be essential to preserving seniors’ access to quality care and continuing to grow good local jobs.
“With supplemental federal Medicaid relief slated to end in just four months, we will continue to impress upon President Obama and the Congress the urgent message that stable and adequate federal Medicare funding is fundamental to preserving quality care,” stated Alan G. Rosenbloom, President of the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care.
“As a former governor, I know firsthand how crucial this funding is not only for our seniors, but also toward ensuring good jobs for local workers throughout America,” stated Governor Mark Parkinson, President & CEO of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL).
Noting that NGA Chair Christine Gregoire (D-WA) and Vice-Chair Dave Heineman (R-NE) stressed throughout the weekend that job creation is the governors’ top priority, Parkinson and Rosenbloom pointed out the nation’s skilled nursing facility (SNF) sector - which has over 3.1 million employees in over 16,000 facilities nationwide serving nearly 3 million patients annually - is America’s second largest health facility employer, and that over the past two years, the sector (through both federal, regulatory and budgetary actions) has been forced to absorb nearly $30 billion nationally in Medicare cuts over ten years. Combined with the fact that providers were paid an average of just $7.17 per hour last year in Medicaid funding according to a new analysis – less than the current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour – local facilities are battling to retain staff that, in great measure, are needed to sustain quality improvement programs.
“When considering budgetary policy for FY 2012, we want to ensure every federal lawmaker appreciates not just our sector’s enduring economic turmoil, but the considerable positive impact of skilled nursing facilities on their state’s economic and employment picture,” the two leaders continued. “Medicare is more than a key national health program – it serves as a cornerstone of rural, suburban and urban economic vitality and job growth throughout America.”
To view new studies from AHCA/NCAL and the Alliance detailing the importance of skilled nursing facilities to the national, state and local economies, go to www.ahcancal.org and www.aqnhc.org.