Help on way for nursing homes

Monday, Oct. 15, 2001 | 8:56 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state is increasing the average payment for Medicaid patients in Nevada nursing homes by 19 percent, the first raise in 15 months to the homes, some of which are in financial trouble.

Effective retroactively to Oct. 1, the average payment per day per patient will go from $102 to $121, Charles Duarte, administrator of the state Division of Health Care Financing and Policy, said Thursday. In the next fiscal year the average payment will be $126 per day per patient.

The money comes from Medicaid, a federal-state program to provide health care to poor patients.

"This will break the ice," Duarte said, noting the rates have been frozen since July 2000.

Of the 4,927 nursing home beds in Nevada, 2,778 patients are covered by Medicaid, Duarte said. An August count showed 844 vacant beds.

The nursing home industry welcomed the rate increase.

"The governor and Duarte have realized that the nursing homes are not being fully reimbursed" by Medicaid, said Charles Perry, executive director of the Nevada Health Care Association, which represents the nursing homes.

"We hope to go back to the 2003 Legislature and close the gap," he said.

Five nursing homes, including the Shadow Mountain Transition Care Center in Southern Nevada, have closed this year, mainly due to financial problems, Perry said.

One of the reasons for the closures is the low rates, Duarte said. But other troubles also contributed to the shutdowns.

"There's a combination of factors," he said.

One of those was a reduction in Medicare rates, which are paid by the federal government for those 65 and older.

Medicare, Perry said, provides money only for 100 days in a nursing home. Medicaid covers the poor patients for a longer period, he said.

In addition to Shadow Mountain, the homes that have closed this year are Barton Skilled Nursing home in Douglas County, Heritage Rehabilitation Facility in Elko, Washoe Care Center in Reno and the Fallon Convalescent Center, Perry said.