Chuck Grassley: “today I would like to announce a significant achievement for this Congress, for the nursing home community, and for…”

“today I would like to announce a significant achievement for this Congress, for the nursing home community, and for nursing home residents throughout the United States. I announce that the nursing home community committed itself to spending about $4 billion over the next decade to direct care and services for all patients in skilled nursing facilities. This past August, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services corrected for errors in rate calculations and adjusted Medicare payments to nursing homes by 3.26 percent. I approached the nursing home community and asked that they use a substantial portion of those funds for direct, hands-on care to residents. They not only agreed, but they committed their agreement to writing. The American Health Care Association, the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care, the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, the American Health Quality Association, and the American Hospital Association all have agreed to spend a large portion of the increase in funding from that 3.26-percent adjustment formula for direct hands-on care to residents, specifically on registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and on certified nursing assistants. These are the people who touch the nursing home residents' lives most directly, and they are the backbone of the nursing home system of quality care if there is going to be quality care.”