Mass Senior Care will present testimony on EOHHS $56 million nursing facility rate regulation at tomorrow’s public hearing. Mass Senior Care is grateful that the October 1 regulation implements the legislatively-required $50 million rate increase designed to begin to help stabilize the nursing home sector. Given the longstanding financial and workforce crisis that continues to devastate the Commonwealth’s nursing facilities, Mass Senior Care believes further steps are needed to modernize the Medicaid reimbursement system, including:
- Establishing and committing to a reimbursement system that sets rates using current allowable costs and using a valid inflation factor that accurately accounts for increased costs associated with quality resident care and workforce investments;
- Updating decades-old efficiency standards to reflect today’s nursing facility system and utilization;
- Addressing inequities in the new capital standard payment and revising the policy to ensure that facilities can make necessary life safety improvements or renovations in order to ensure quality resident care; and
- Fully recognizing the Medicaid share of the User Fee.
Mass Senior Care remains committed to working with the EOHHS, the Legislature and other stakeholders to develop strategies that will strengthen the long term sustainability of nursing facilities and help us achieve our mutual goal of ensuring that MassHealth beneficiaries have access to high quality nursing facility care.