The Legislative Lady

Signature Celebrates National Day of Prayer

In 1775 the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming the nation. President Harry Truman declared an annual day of prayer and President Ronald Reagan set it for the first Thursday in May delivered the benediction.
So on May 2nd, the 62^nd National Day of Prayer in America,
Signature Healthcare facilities celebrated the day with a simultaneous webcast
of the home office celebration with its 76 facilities in Kentucky, Indiana,
Florida, Tennessee, Maryland and Georgia. Along with religious representation including B’Hai, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Native American, Quaker, Roman Catholicism, Sikhism and Unitarian,  it was a beautiful day to reflect on the religious freedoms that we have here in the United States, and to gain knowledge of the different faiths that celebrate their  beliefs alongside one another.

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Legislative Update 5-15-2013

“Doc Fix”-There’s a lot going on at Capitol Hill this week, including leaders of the Senate Finance Committee meetings on possible changes to the Medicare physician payment system.

• Under the current Sustainable  Growth Rate system, Congress has acted each year for about a decade to  prevent cuts to physician pay. The next cut, of 25%, would take effect  Jan. 1, 2014.
• CMS is looking to cut spending  elsewhere too – and looking again to LTC providers. The Congressional  Budget Office recently said that freezing physicians’ pay for 10 years  would cost about $100 billion less than the agency previously announced – giving a flicker of hope that a permanent “doc fix” can be hammered out.

Congress has previously opted to adjust Medicare physician payments with a yearly short-term “doc fix” rather than pursuing long-term reforms and remember- Part B outpatient therapy is a non-physician service reimbursed under the Physician Fee Schedule, and subject to SGR policy.

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There are 3 Democratic Senators deeply involved in our nation’s healthcare issues that have announced their retirement, and although 2014 seems like a long way off, truth be told there is a lot of speculation about who will be elected in 2014.  Kaiser Healthcare offers some interesting information  What\’s next on the \”Hill\”?

As our State sessions are on the downside of their 2013 calendars, federal issues are gaining our attention with the immigration bill having some positive effects on long term care providers……..

Federal:

Lot of discussion now about S744 -bipartisan Senate immigration bill that has potential to increase the LTC workforce by allowing out of status immigrant workers to apply for visas addressing shortage of healthcare workers/staffing, recruitment and retention issues

• Although unknown at this time what the House schedule is for
  hearing the bill or what their strategy might be, -hopeful that the bill will
  proceed favorably as it has large bi-partisan Senate support

Acting Admin for CMS-MarilynTavenner was approved by vote today in Senate Finance
Committee and is expected to be confirmed by full Senate vote -She would be the first confirmed administrator for CMS since 2006
States:

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Signature Florida team meets with Senator Denise Grimsley to discuss long term care issues

Signature HealthCARE Florida Stakeholders attended a Lobby Day in Tallahassee on April 17, meeting with many legislators and discussing very important issues that long term care providers are facing in Florida right now that must be decided upon before session ends on May 5.

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President Obama released the White House budget:

• The proposed budget has $81billion in Medicare cuts to LTC providers over 10
  years
• This comes via an adjustment of payments to SNF’s and also maintains provisions for reductions in hospital readmissions as an incentive which is estimated to be equal to $500 million in deficit reduction by 2018
• Budget leaves out a “blended rate” for federal matching dollars and reduce states’ ability to use Medicaid provider taxes
• labs, pharmaceuticals and Medicare Advantage stakeholders would be hit with billions
  in new cuts
• The budget does however protect Medicaid from cuts for LTC with policy changes to amount to $22.1 billion in savings
• Budget proposes to limit Medicaid reimbursement of durable medical equipment based on Medicare rates
• As expected proposes to permanently repeal the Medicare physician payment formula and replace it with a value-based system

Kaiser Health analysis of the Presidents Budget

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Signature Healthcare of Orange Park Administrator, Alex Russell, attended an Open House for US Congressman Ted Yoho for the opening of his new District 3 Office in Orange Park on April 5th.

Congressman Yoho defeated long time Congressman Cliff Stearns in November, 2012 for the District Congressional seat and covers Alachua, Union, Gilchrist, Bradford, Marion, Clay, Suwannee, Dixie, Lafayette, Columbia, Levy, Madison and Hamilton Counties.

He is dedicated to preserving Medicare and Social Security
and hopes to be influential in long term solvency for these programs for
America’s seniors.

We will be arranging facility visits for him in the very near future at our Orange Park and Gainesville facilities, so Congressman Yoho can meet with our residents and stakeholders and get to know who we are and how we serve the community!

Open House with US Congressman Ted Yoho

Great article in McKnights about the art of saying “thank you”.  But how often do we, as caregivers take the time to say “thank you” to our residents….truly they are the ones we should be thanking.Saying \”thank you\” goes a long way

Many state legislatures are past the mid-session point and bills will either move now or be considered “dead”.  As states decide whether to expand Medicaid, here are some additional bits of news and some thoughts to ponder as we move forward with issues concerning long term care…..

Legislative
Update 3-25-13

FEDERAL:

Budget:

Washington will be a bit quieter this week following the House and Senate having passed budgets and it looks like taxes, spending and the national debt will be addressed later this
year.

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With the baby boomer generations swiftly growing, LTC is playing a major role in this country…..perhaps the new LTC Commission will have some answers, but timing will be crucial..Long Term Care Crisis is coming