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Care homes,
elderly fear impacts of state cutbacks By Munira
Syeda Appeal-Democrat.com, May 15, 2003
Deline
Churchill, 73, has been living at Emmanuel Health Care Center in Yuba City
for three years. She says everyone there is nice and her aide looks after
her. Churchill
has been watching the news closely and feels the proposed budget cuts in
the state Medi-Cal program may mean folding a few nursing home facilities.
"What
about people who don't have anywhere to go?" Churchill asked. Even
though she has two sons living in Florida and one daughter living in
Auburn, she said she doesn't know if any one of her children will take her
in. Other
nursing home residents and nursing home officials feel they are in the
same situation. Gov. Gray Davis had originally proposed a 15 percent
reduction in Medi-Cal reimbursements. On Wednesday, he added a 3.8 percent
rate increase for Medi-Cal reimbursement on top of the 15 percent
reduction in his revised budget proposal. "Any
cut in Medi-Cal funding is going to be devastating," said Kelley
Queale, director of communications for California Association of Health
Facilities, a nonprofit statewide organization for long-term care
providers. According
to CAHF director of public affairs Betsy Hite, two-thirds of all nursing
home residents are on Medi-Cal, and lower Medi-Cal funding impacts nursing
homes and residents negatively. On average, each nursing home gets $120
per resident per day in Medi-Cal reimbursement, she said. This
is a flat rate for each resident whether the individual is on heavy or
light medical care, Hite said. Nursing homes also get Medicare funds that
match Medi-Cal dollars, so with lower Medi-Cal reimbursements, nursing
homes will see less Medicare money as well, she said. There
are five nursing homes or skilled nursing facilities affiliated with the
California Association of Health Facilities in the Yuba-Sutter area. Two
of them are SunBridge Care Centers - the Marysville branch has 86 beds
while the Yuba City facility has 59 beds, Live Oak Manor in Live Oak has
99 beds, Emmanuel Health Care Center in Yuba City has 151 beds and The
Fountains, operated by Fremont-Rideout Health Group in Yuba City, has 99
beds. Davis
proposed a 15 percent cut but added a 3.8 rate increase for nursing home
residents. Queale said what this means is that the governor recognizes
that Medi-Cal shouldn't be cut, yet it's still being cut. "It's
a bit of a mystery for us how you can do both," Queale said. A
report released by University of San Francisco researchers on Monday says
the 15 percent proposed budget cut in Medi-Cal reimbursement would push
694 nursing homes in California into severe financial crisis, even
threatening some into closure. Because
of such financial hardships, UCSF researchers say, facilities may file for
bankruptcy, cut staffing, turn away new residents or not be able to
provide quality care to residents. Donna
Etchison-Marrs, administrator for Emmanuel Health Care Center, says she's
been coping with the anticipated budget cuts "creatively." She
usually likes to plan recreational activities for her staff and residents
but ends up footing those expenses. In
honor of National Nursing Home Week this week, she helped pay for potlucks
and a staff barbecue, she said. "I
don't know where the bottom line cuts are going to be,"
Etchison-Marrs said prior to Davis' announcement of revisions.
"Fortunately, it's a corporation and there's always funds." SunBridge
Care Center spokeswoman Toni Graham said due to the lower Medi-Cal
reimbursements, the company is negotiating to reduce leases on facilities
they manage in the state. She added that none of the Yuba-Sutter
facilities are threatened with closure. Hite
advocates for long-term care insurance similar to health and dental
insurance offered by employers and said people need to move away from the
idea of state- or federally-funded nursing programs. "This is a health care system, that's truly, truly on the verge of collapse," she said. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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