ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A group of state legislators say they have a solution to the healthcare crisis in our area caused by a shortage of nursing home beds.
The nursing home crisis has caused a domino effect felt throughout our entire healthcare system. Our area has lost a thousand hospital beds since the pandemic. Too few nursing home beds means that hospitals can’t discharge patients who need nursing home care, leading to a shortage of hospital beds. This leads to long waits in overcrowded emergency rooms because there are not enough hospital beds.
“We have two choices. We can allow our older adults our senior citizens to sit in hallways in hospitals, in emergency departments and wait for the care, or they can be in caring loving environments right here in the Jewish Home or other not for profit nursing homes,” said Senator Jeremy Cooney, (D) District 56.
The delegation of state legislators believes the Cinergy Bill is the solution, allowing non-profit nursing homes to pool their resources. Cinergy stands for Collaborative to Improve Nursing Home Efficiency, Reduce Avoidable Hospitalizations, Guarantee Access, and Yield Area-Wide Performance Improvement.
“It will allow our nonprofit nursing homes the ability to collaborate and encourage them hit quality metrics for an opportunity in the future for increased reimbursement rates,” said Senator Samra Brouk, (D) District 55.
She’s talking about Medicaid reimbursement rates. Nursing home operators say about 60% of their residents are on Medicaid, so this bill would allow them to get more money per Medicaid recipient as they meet mandated quality requirements.
“Right now, the reimbursement rate is so low, it’s a money loss for anyone who is trying to provide that care,” said Assemblymember Sarah Clark, (D) District 136.
New York nursing homes are reportedly $1.6 billion in the red: an industry in critical condition, hemorrhaging money by the day. According to nursing home operators, the amount nursing homes are being paid per Medicaid resident is $98.73 short of what’s needed.
The bill being proposed is based on a program already in place in the Big Apple.
“And so, we’ve seen it in New York City,” said Clark. “We’ve seen it work. And we’ve seen it ensure that their good high quality non-profit nursing homes can continue to succeed. They open more beds; they have the availability for more people and can continue to do the great work that they do.”
While the legislators touted the improvements, they said little about cost. According to the Empire Center for Public Policy, New York’s Medicaid budget is already the highest per capita in the country. We’ve seen a 61% increase in the state’s share of Medicaid spending in just four years, and this is before the state will be forced to address federal cuts in Medicaid.
Now this bill goes to the governor’s desk, and we’ll all be watching.
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