Lawmakers push for nursing home reforms this spring
By PETER HANCOCK
Capitol News Illinois
phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com
SPRINGFIELD – Several Illinois lawmakers said this week they are determined to pass a bill in the spring that would overhaul the way nursing homes are paid through the state’s Medicaid program to address critical staffing shortages, but the state’s largest nursing home industry group is still pushing back against the proposed changes.
“We need to have something happen this spring, for the sake of the most vulnerable in our state,” Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, said during a committee hearing Tuesday. “And the point of these hearings is to bring that to light to bring the reality of what people are living through to light.”
Illinois has many of the most understaffed nursing homes in the nation. According to a report by the state Department of Healthcare and Family Services, Illinois consistently ranks last among states in staffing, as measured using the national Staff Time and Resource Intensity Verification, or STRIVE Project, with 47 of the 100 most understaffed facilities in the country.
Mark Cooper, a nursing home resident who declined to identify the facility where he lives, told the committee about the conditions he deals with daily.
“Lately in this particular home, especially in the last year, after apparently this nursing home was bought up by some other owners, there have been filthy conditions, food on the floor, excrement in shower stalls, residents being offered half-filled bowls of Froot Loops as the morning cold cereal option,” he said. “Resident-called lights going on are unanswered for a half hour or more.”
Illinois Medicaid Administrator Kelly Cunningham noted the state has increased funding for nursing homes three times in the past several years for the purpose of increasing staffing, but the shortages persist, particularly with certified nursing assistants, or CNAs.
“Because Medicaid is the single largest purchaser of CNA services, we are in a unique position to influence the purchase of this critical service,” she said. “It’s clear that we need to directly link any new funding to this industry to staffing and quality care improvements in order to bring about the change we’re seeking to give all nursing home residents the quality of life that they deserve.”
Tuesday’s hearing was a joint meeting of four House committees that deal with health care issues. They are considering a proposal by DHFS to overhaul the way nursing homes are reimbursed by increasing funding and tying payments directly to staffing levels and performance measures.
DHFS Deputy Director Andy Allison said the plan calls for roughly a $400 million increase in Medicaid nursing home funding that would be tied to reaching certain staffing benchmarks, increasing wages for CNAs and achieving higher quality standards.
That would be funded through an increase in the nursing home assessment tax, which generates a pool of money that is used to draw down additional federal Medicaid reimbursements.
“For a facility that’s 100 percent Medicaid, we would come darn close to fully paying for the increased hiring. It was designed in that way,” he said.
But the plan is still facing stiff resistance from the state’s largest nursing home industry group, the Health Care Council of Illinois.
HCCI Executive Director Matt Pickering told the committee that if the agency’s proposed new payment system were enacted, 130 nursing facilities in Illinois would see an overall cut in revenues, with as many as 50 being pushed to the point of insolvency. Those 50 facilities, he said, serve more than 5,000 residents, mainly in rural and minority communities.
Pickering said the nursing home industry in Illinois is already facing financial strains, much of which he blamed on the state’s privatized Medicaid system in which for-profit insurance companies, known as managed care organizations, are in charge of reimbursing providers and managing each patient’s care.
“These challenges have coalesced into what we’ve called the perfect storm for our industry,” he said. “Compounding our financial burdens are the managed care organizations that routinely deny reimbursements to providers who treat low income patients.”
Allison, however, noted in his testimony that the 50 facilities identified by HCCI were all earning high profits before the COVID-19 pandemic and were “exceptionally low staffed, even in comparison to other for-profit homes.”
“The foremost issue for these homes is whether they can staff up,” he said. “So we looked at the cost of staffing up, and even if we were to assign, for example, what likely is an overstated cost of $29 an hour for the additional hours of nurse staffing that would be required in these homes to get them up to minimal levels as a group, even with those costs under the proposed reforms, in aggregate, these homes would still earn a profit.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Moeller said she argued that it is time for the state to stop funding nursing facilities that provide substandard levels of care.
“I don’t want to continue to subsidize these homes where … fellow nursing home residents have to take care of other residents because there aren’t enough CNAs or nurses on staff,” she said. “We are paying hundreds of millions of dollars to subsidize these homes that that are providing that level of care. That’s obscene. So something needs to change.”
Rep. Deb Conroy, D-Elmhurst, noted that the committees have been working on nursing home payment reform for several months and at one point this fall had what many believed was an “agreed bill” that all of the stakeholders could accept. She said she believes it’s time for the General Assembly to act.
“Might I suggest that the agreed-upon legislation that we had a few months ago be filed, and then those who have issues or would like to see changes, file amendments,” she said. “That way, everyone can see clearly where the issues are. I think it’s important because this has become such a contentious issue. I think it’s very important that all of our colleagues understand exactly what is going on.”
Lawmakers return to Springfield Jan. 4 for what is scheduled to be an abbreviated 2022 session. They hope to wrap up their business by April 8.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
Local News
Southwest Symphony presents ‘American Song Book’
Spread the loveFrom staff reports Southwest Symphony Orchestra will perform “The American Song Book” this weekend at Trinity College in Palos Heights. The performance will feature Grammy nominated Helen Welch under the direction of David Crane at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Trinity Christian College’s Ozinga Auditorium. Welch will perform some of America’s best loved classics.…
Shoppers welcome back Evergreen Park Farmers Market
Spread the loveBy Joe Boyle Rain was forecast for the morning of May 2, but nothing could dampen the spirits of customers who dropped by the Evergreen Park Farmers Market. The large crowd that attended were instead greeted with mostly sunny skies. Beth Novotney, director of the Evergreen Park Office of Citizen Services that oversees…
Evergreen Park recognizes police for valor
Spread the loveBy Joe Boyle The Evergreen Park police have been cited for valor after several key arrests that occurred the past couple of months. Police Chief Michael Saunders requested commendations for the officers during the Evergreen Park Village Board meeting Monday night. Mayor Kelly Burke and the board applauded the efforts of the force.…
Hickory Hills police bid adieu and say welcome
Spread the loveBy Nuha Abdessalam The Hickory Hills Police Department bid a fond farewell to Lieutenant Glenn Tienstra and welcomed new Officer Daniel Balzhiser. On a memorable Thursday evening, April 25, city hall was filled with the warmth of community family, friends, officers, and council members, all gathered to joyfully celebrate Officer Balzhiser and respectfully…
Mother Mac unveils new lights and scoreboard
Spread the loveBy Kelly White Across the nation, women’s sports are on the rise in terms of viewership, enthusiasm, sponsorship and excitement. Mother McAuley is no stranger to the impact that women’s athletics has on the development of an individual, strengthening of a team and key skills and attributes developed along the way. South Side…
Cicadas in the park in Palos Park
Spread the loveBy Kelly White Cicadas are coming and the Village of Palos Park is ready. The village hosted its 31st annual Arbor Day Celebration on Sunday, May 5, themed, “The Wonder of Trees” at The Center in the Lodge, 12700 Southwest Highway, with featured speaker, Tricia Bethke of The Morton Arboretum who presented, “Cicadas…
Palos Heights SD 128 sees enrollment boom
Spread the loveBy Kelly White Over the past few years, Palos Heights School District 128 has experienced an explosive growth among incoming students. There has been a significant increase particularly at Indian Hill Early Learning Center, 12800 S. Austin Ave. Chippewa Elementary School, 12425 S. Austin Ave; Navajo Elementary School, 12401 S. Oak Park Ave;…
Comings & Goings: Orange’s Pancake House now open in Palos Heights
Spread the loveBy Kelly White Palos Heights is the home of a popular new breakfast café. Orange’s Pancake House, 11845 Southwest Highway, held a ribbon-cutting event on April 18. Owners, Elvia Briones, of Virgina, and Fernando Cruz, of Evergreen Park, said they were very excited to be in the heart of the Palos Heights community.…
Sisters make Chicago Lawn a world destination
Spread the love. Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 . Earlier this month was the Fifth Lithuanian Documentary Film Festival, with distinguished guests from Lithuania and other parts of the United States visiting the neighborhood. They held a photo session in the editorial office of…
Neighbors
Area wrestlers advance to sectionals
Spread the loveFrom Staff Reports The following wrestlers have qualified for sectional competition after placing in the top three at their respective regional tournaments. (Name, class, finish at regional) Class 3A Marist Regional Marist George Marinopoulos, Fr, 2nd at 106 Michael Esteban, Fr, 1st at 113 Will Denny, Fr, 2nd at 120 Jesse Herrera,…
Mayor ‘out of control,’ hero says
Spread the lovePolice ranks ‘thousands’ short, dispatcher tells Scottsdale By Tim Hadac It’s not every day that a City worker has the courage to attend a public meeting and call a mayor “out of control.” But Keith A. Thornton Jr. did exactly that earlier this week on the Southwest Side. A 911 dispatcher hailed as…
Rockie is the new kid on the block
Spread the love While some folks see heavy snowfall and curse the skies, children across the Southwest Side seemed thrilled with last week’s winter windfall. Schools cancelled classes, and kids like 9-year-old Rosie Arroyo showed her creativity by working with her father, Raul, to build a snowman in front of their home near 49th and…
Kaegi, legislators, advocates unveil affordable housing initiative
Spread the loveFrom staff reports Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi was joined by state legislators and affordable housing advocates earlier this week to launch the Affordable Housing Special Assessment Program, a new form of property tax relief recently signed into law. Kaegi worked with legislative partners who passed the law last spring, including State Sens.…
Lopez nixes dibs
Spread the love While calling dibs on parking spaces in the winter is an informal tradition in the city, 15th Ward Ald. Raymond Lopez recently reminded his constituents in Back of the Yards, Brighton Park, Gage Park and West Englewood that no one may call dibs indefinitely. He instructed his Streets and Sanitation ward superintendent…
St. Dan’s Summerfest to return
Spread the lovePopular event was gone for several years By Tim Hadac Details are just starting to emerge, but it looks like St. Daniel the Prophet Parish’s Summerfest will return in 2022, after an absence of several years. The family-focused event is set for Thursday, June 16 through Sunday, June 19 on parish grounds at…
Skating is winter’s silver lining
Spread the loveBy Joan Hadac Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge (708) 496-0265 • joan.hadac@gmail.com Hi everyone. As I write this, snowmageddon is raging outside. I’m not sure how many inches we have as of yet, or how many we will end up with; but I hope by the time you read this, we are…
Property tax bills due soon, Pappas says
Spread the loveFrom staff reports Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas recently mailed nearly 1.8 million Tax Year 2021 First Installment property tax bills. Payments are due March 1, 2022. The First Installment is 55% of the previous year’s total tax. Exemptions that can reduce a property owner’s taxes are applied to the Second Installment bill.…
Marchers welcome in St. Patrick’s Day parade
Spread the loveBy Tim Hadac Southwest Side organizations are welcome to march in the community’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, set for Saturday, March 12. It is anticipated that local schools, churches, Scout troops, youth athletic associations and others will have units in the parade. Units will have to register in advance with parade organizers.…