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Nursing home policies hurt our seniors
Published Thursday, February 14, 2008
This is written to all Minnesota senior citizens, their families and community caregivers.
I want you to be aware of what our state government is doing to our nursing home facilities here in Minnesota. Policies have been instituted that are placing a heavy burden on our nursing homes and are causing nursing homes to close their doors.
1. The state requires nursing homes to pay a surcharge of $7.80 per day for each bed, occupied or empty. The federal government matches these funds and they are kept in the state treasury.
2. Operating rates for Minnesota nursing homes were frozen from 2002 until October 2005 at which time a 2.25 percent increase was allowed. 1.69 percent of that was designated to compensate the staff. Another .57 percent was left for nursing home operations.
3. Inflation from 2003 through 2006 has risen 11.6 percent but the rates that the nursing homes can charge has been increased only 4.6 percent. This leaves the nursing homes in the red every year by large amounts.
The bottom line: Minnesota nursing home facilities are grossly under funded. The rates are set by the state. As nursing homes run out of funds, they are closing or being sold to private parties for pennies on the dollar.
We, the senior citizens of this state have been the backbone of our state government throughout our productive lives. We paid taxes and are still paying taxes.
We must speak up and not let the state destroy our nursing homes.
Please write to your state representatives, senators and Gov. Pawlenty, and ask what they are going to do about this mess they have created. I have already written to my elected representatives and not one of them has had the courtesy to even respond. We must make them take a close look at what is happening to care for the elderly in Minnesota.
Karen Johnson - Fertile
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by vike (anonymous) on February 14, 2008 at 2:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
So, you're saying that nursing homes should be paid more? Well, I'll go along with that as soon as they begin to earn what they get paid. For them to be paid from $3,500 to almost $5,000 per month for the service they give borders on robbery. Just visit a loved one in a home and you'll find it's also common to see a resident trying to get an aide's attention for some assistance for over a half hour. It's little wonder that the private extended care facilities are becoming popular for the elderly. They do provide a good service and care.
Posted by schaferltc (anonymous) on February 15, 2008 at 9:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is written to all Minnesota senior citizens, their families and community caregivers.
Don't count on the government safety net being there when you need it. Save, invest and insure privately for your retirement and long-term care security.
Every individual and family should plan responsibly for the risk and cost of long-term care. That's the only way America can save Medical Assistance as a long-term care safety net for the poor and ensure that every baby boomer receives quality Long-term Care at the most appropriate level when the time comes.
Posted by schaferltc (anonymous) on February 15, 2008 at 4:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Why don't people worry about Long-term Care until they're in crisis?
The answer to that question is simple: "Medicaid (M.A. in Minnesota) and Medicare have paid for most expensive long-term care in the U.S.A. since 1965 so the vast majority of people don't think about long-term care until they need it."
The country is slipping toward recession. State and federal budgets are stressed. Medicaid, especially its LTC component, threatens to sink the foundering fiscal ship.
More public spending on long-term care is less likely than ever. Cutbacks in Medicaid eligibility and benefits are far more likely. Medicaid estate recovery efforts will increase. Access to and quality of Medicaid-financed LTC, whether in nursing homes or home and community-based settings, will surely decline.
More citizens who failed to plan for LTC will be caught in the Medicaid trap. Their adult children and heirs, previously indemnified against LTC costs by easy Medicaid eligibility rules and opportunistic Medicaid planners, will lose inheritances.
Someday, folks will recognize their LTC will someday have to be paid for out of pocket. So, at long last they'll turn to private financial planning tools like insurance and reverse mortgages. Those markets will thrive, and in time, thanks to market competition and extra private financing, LTC service delivery will improve.
Posted by tanker8 (anonymous) on February 16, 2008 at 8:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
How does an avg. American plan for 3,500 - 5,000 a month? Please let me know cause I have no idea.
And the question -
"Why don't people worry about Long-term Care until they're in crisis?"
Cause were to worried about how to pay for everything else such as health care to avoid any long term care to begin with.
I have no empathy for the suggested finacial quandry of nursing homes.
The Pioneer Home seems to have found a little cash, the Broen Home remodeled a super nice swing bed wing.
And Schaf. thinks the answer to "LTC" is privatization, your nuts.
Posted by schaferltc (anonymous) on February 16, 2008 at 10:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Reply to Tanker8....regarding "your nuts" comment.
Who's nuts? 77 Million Baby Boomers marching to old age...and you still think that the government owes you long-term care and can possibly afford to pay more. Sure, it's tough out there....that's why we need to preserve Medicaid for the genuinely needy and encourage everyone else to plan early, save, invest, or insure.
Take, for example, you....if you need care...you'll pay for it yourself until you spend down to $3000 before Medicaid will pay. And, if you have a family, they'll be stuck having to take care of you....until they can't.
Who's nuts? The person who bought LTC insurance while they were young enough and healthy enough to get it? Or someone like you who still thinks the average American can't plan for old age?
Posted by justme (anonymous) on February 20, 2008 at 12:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Insurance or not, if the home you are in does not have the funding to ensure adequate staffing, you'll still be lying in your bed, waiting for the "quality" care you thought you were guaranteed.
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