New Study Spotlights Growing Role Of Medicare In Propping Up Nation's Medicaid Program

The Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care said a new BDO Seidman study of the nation's Medicaid program released today draws much needed attention to a chronic and worsening problem: Medicare's cross-subsidization of increasingly inadequate Medicaid payments for nursing home care.

Noting that the influential Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is meeting in Washington this week to consider a number of Medicare funding matters, Alan Rosenbloom, President of the Alliance, urged the agency to consider more carefully the substantial Medicaid losses nursing homes face in formulating recommendations to Congress. He also urged Congress to evaluate the relationship between government payment programs -- which together pay for roughly 80% of nursing home patients -- in making decisions regarding Medicare payments to nursing homes.

Tags: nursing homes, medicare, medicaid