Political Quotes

“I would like to raise another issue today which has a major impact on older and disabled Americans and their families, nursing homes. Under current law, Medicare rates for seniors in nursing homes were reduced by ten percent as of October 1, because a series of previously-enacted add-on provisions expired. Let me be clear. On October 1, the average per diem payment to a nursing home to care for a Medicare patient was cut to a level ten percent lower than it was on September 30. The average rate fell from $337/day to slightly more than $300/day. This is a real cut. This negative quirk results from the fact the Clinton Administration poorly implemented the Balanced Budget Act, BBA, of 1997, and in the process, set Medicare rates for seniors in nursing homes far below the levels Congress set out in the BBA of 1997. Recognizing that the new system was paying much less for nursing home care for Medicare patients than it had intended, Congress passed the Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999 and then the Beneficiary Improvement Protection Act of 2000, which provided limited fixes to the payment structure for skilled nursing care through add-on payments. But, because it was expected HCFA, now CMS, would "refine" the rates and fix the problem, these add-ons were temporary. However, CMS has not yet acted, and the "add-on" provisions have now expired.”