NURSING HOMES: Senate Unanimously Approves Anti-Dump Bill
Less than a week after it sailed through the House, the Senate version of a bill supported by President Clinton that would bar nursing homes from evicting Medicaid residents was unanimously approved yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reports (3/16). Sen. Bob Graham's (D-FL) bill passed "without debate or a single objection." Under the legislation, nursing homes that do not participate in Medicaid would not be forced to accept Medicaid patients, but those homes that do would be prohibited from dumping such patients should the home drop out of the program. In addition, the bill would require nursing homes that do not participate to warn incoming residents that once they deplete their assets and become eligible for Medicaid, they will have to leave (McGinley, Wall Street Journal, 3/16). While the nursing home industry largely supports the legislation, Mike Hogan, legislative affairs director for the American Health Care Association, said "some homes are leery because inadequate Medicaid reimbursements may force them to keep Medicaid patients whose insurance doesn't fully cover their care" (Pfleger, St. Petersburg Times, 3/16).
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