“MedPAC’s call for 5% SNF pay cut ‘outdated and obsolete’,” by Danielle Brown, McKnight’s LTC News

 

Quote:

“The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s recommendation to cut base pay by 5% for skilled nursing facilities in 2023, doesn’t reflect the current state of the skilled nursing industry, according to the nation’s largest nursing home association. The advisory panel released its annual report to Congress on Tuesday. As McKnight’s previously reported, the 5% SNF cut suggestion was widely expected and included in MedPAC’s draft recommendations released in January. … [Mark Parkinson, President & CEO of the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living] argued that since 2020, nursing home labor costs have skyrocketed and margins in 2022 are projected to be negative 4.8%.”

 

LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform:

MedPAC’s frequent calls to cut Medicare reimbursements are shortsighted and unreasonable. Without higher Medicare margins, nursing homes could not survive Medicaid’s notoriously low payments. With the extra caregiver shortages caused by the pandemic, this problem is worse than ever and less than ever taken into account by MedPAC.