USA – Medicare cut

Citation

(2005), "USA – Medicare cut", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 18 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2005.06218cab.009

USA – Medicare cut

The Americas

USA – Medicare cut

Proposed $1.5bn Medicare cut for skilled nurses jeopardizes quality gains

Keywords: Healthcare services, Resource management, Quality indicators, United States of America

Continuing to make their case about the proposed $1.5bn Medicare cut for skilled nursing care in the Bush Administration FY 2006 budget – which amounts to $24 billion over ten years – is “unwise, illogical and ill-considered”. The American Health Care Association (AHCA) and Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care (the Alliance) urged members of the House Ways and Means Committee and Administration to reverse the disproportionate cuts in light of the fact Administration officials not only lauded nursing home care quality improvements, but also emphasized the importance of fostering sector stability to sustain quality gains.

“Members of this Committee and OMB Director Bolten are well aware that stable fiscal and budget policies create the environment necessary for providers to maximize patient care quality, yet this budget will destabilize our sector at a time when the Administration has praised our hard-earned successes on the quality front,” stated Hal Daub, President and CEO of AHCA.

“The proposed Medicare cuts for the skilled nursing sector are unwise, illogical and ill-considered – and we respectfully ask that the Administration reassess why the provider sector with the lowest overall operating margins has been singled out for cuts of monumental proportion and import,” continued Daub.

The proposed Medicare cuts come on the heels of the late December announcement from then Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mark McClellan that the Nursing Home Quality Initiative (NHQI) shows key nursing home care quality indicators are up, and that there are marked improvements in key quality indicators.

For further information, see www.hhs.gov