Earlier this week, the Boston Globe published Massachusetts Senior Care President Tara Gregorio’s Letter to the Editor in response to a September 4th article suggesting that Massachusetts nursing facilities are being rapidly bought and sold to prioritize short term profit.
State’s reformed nursing home system has many quality controls.
(Tara Gregorio, Mass Senior Care President)
In the article “Nursing homes on trading block,” Kay Lazar paints an incomplete picture of how the Medicaid payment system in Massachusetts functions.
Massachusetts has one of the most rigorous and transparent Medicaid nursing facility payment systems in the country and links funding directly to quality of care and workforce support. Over the past four years, our organization has worked closely with state government to implement nation-leading reforms that ensure taxpayer dollars are directed where they matter most: to residents and front-line caregivers.
These reforms include: quality-based reimbursement, where payments are tied to quality ratings determined by both the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health; minimum staffing requirements that implement financial penalties for facilities that fall below mandated staffing levels; and a direct-care spending mandate that requires that at least 75 percent of all facility revenues be spent on direct care and imposes rate reductions if the requirement is not met.
It is therefore disappointing that the article includes a quote from a former state official suggesting there is no oversight or connection between Medicaid funding and how it is spent, when the system includes multiple accountability mechanisms that ensure precisely that.
Most residents in long-term care rely on MassHealth to cover their care costs. Yet the funding the state provides still falls short of the true cost of delivering high-quality care. Our challenge is not a lack of oversight but rather a lack of adequate funding.
Our members remain committed to working with state leaders to ensure transparency, strengthen accountability, and most important, secure the resources necessary to provide the care that every Massachusetts resident deserves. Readers deserve to know that the system already includes strong safeguards. Massachusetts nursing home reforms deserve recognition.
Tara Gregorio
President
Massachusetts Senior Care Association
Easton