Many nursing homes and home health agencies have begun lobbying against President Barack Obama’s new healthcare law, citing that the new law will make it impossible for them to provide health insurance to hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mark Parkinson, president of the American Health Care Association, the largest trade group for nursing homes, said, “We do not have much ability to increase prices because we are so dependent on Medicaid and Medicare.” The reimbursement rates for the two programs don’t pay them enough to offer health insurance to their employees, he added.
Medicaid currently covers nearly two-thirds of all nursing home residents. States set Medicaid rates, but with many localities facing severe budget cuts, states have now been forced to reduced payments for nursing homes.
Joanna D. Knox, chief executive of the Lakeview nursing home, said her nursing home used to pay their employees’ premiums but now requires workers to pay $25 of the $585 monthly premium for individual coverage. Because of this requirement, many workers dropped coverage, she added. Knox also said she didn’t know how the nursing home could take on the additional cost of providing health insurance for all of its employees.
