MassHealth 10-Day Bed-hold Eliminated
Massachusetts nursing home residents who are briefly hospitalized or leave to visit their family risk losing their bed under a new state funding cut. Advocates for the elderly and disabled worked feverishly for a last-minute reprieve, but the new rule goes into effect November 1, 2011.
Federal law requires nursing homes to readmit a resident after a temporary leave to the first available bed in a shared room, but it does not guarantee the same room or bed as before. Because so many nursing home residents have dementia, the prospect of facing a new bed and room each time they return can be especially confusing, advocates said. Advocates said they will continue to fight the cut this fall when lawmakers consider a supplemental state budget plan.
On the surface, eliminating these payments would save the state considerable money. But advocates say that the savings may be lower than anticipated if MassHealth ends up paying for extended hospital stays of beneficiaries who have lost their nursing home beds. In addition, to the extent nursing homes do not immediately fill these beds with other paying patients, they will lose money, which can have a number of adverse results as they adjust such as:
- They may raise their rates for patients paying privately.
- They may cut staffing to save money, which would affect care.
- They may put pressure on family members to pay to hold the beds, creating unpleasant situations that could undermine the relationships that contribute to good care.
- Finally, if they do refill the bed with another patient, the family members will be stuck looking for a new placement for a patient who will have to adjust to a new home and new caretakers.
-Adapted from “ Globe Recognizes Bedhold Controversy”, News from Margolis & Bloom, LLP - August 1, 2011, and the Boston Globe article linked above.
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