Eagleson said her department is working on a proposed change in the Medicaid rate structure that will need legislative approval. It will more closely tie enhanced rates to higher staffing levels and good performance.
Under the plan, nursing homes would pay an additional “bed tax” that the state, in turn, would use to receive a higher federal match through the Medicaid program. The increase would bring in about $300 million more to improve care, according to HFS.
Donna Ginther of the Health Care Council of Illinois, which represents about half of the nursing homes in the state, said homes would be willing to contribute more revenue if it was dedicated to patient care. She also called for increased reimbursement rates in light of increased costs, saying their facilities do not have the money they need to increase staff and wages, and recruit new workers.
UpdatedFri, Apr 30, 2021 at 2:53 pm CT
Replies(252)
Lawmakers expressed they were wary to give money to an industry that profits off of understaffing. (Shutterstock)
CHICAGO A disproportionate number of patients to die in overcrowded nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic were Black or Latino sometimes packed three or four to a room so that facilities could squeeze more funding out of the federal Medicaid insurance program, state officials said this week.
According to a report from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, also known as HFS, nursing homes with more than three residents to a room had a much higher number of preventable deaths than less crowded facilities about 60 percent of COVID-related deaths of nursing home residents between March and July 2020 occurred in homes where at least 10 percent of residents were in rooms with three or more people.
Illinois Black, Latino Nursing Home Deaths Linked to Overcrowding April 30, 2021
Overcrowding at some Illinois nursing homes caused a disproportionate number of preventable deaths among Black and Latino residents living in those facilities, state officials say.
The Department of Healthcare and Family Services is proposing $300 million in new funding for nursing homes that hire more workers or take other steps to benefit residents. Department director Theresa Eagleson told lawmakers heavy reliance on putting three or four people into one room was far more common in Medicaid-funded homes serving Black and Hispanic residents. As a result, 60% of COVID-related deaths of nursing home residents between March and July 2020 occurred in facilities where at least 10% of residents were in rooms with three or more people.
Black and Latino nursing home deaths linked to overcrowding
Updated 4/28/2021 9:17 PM
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. Overcrowding at some Illinois nursing homes caused a disproportionate number of preventable deaths among Black and Latino residents living in those facilities, state officials said Wednesday.
The Department of Healthcare and Family Services is proposing $300 million in new funding for nursing homes that hire more workers or take other steps to benefit residents. Department director Theresa Eagleson told lawmakers heavy reliance on putting three or four people into one room was far more common in Medicaid-funded homes serving Black and Hispanic residents. As a result, 60% of COVID-related deaths of nursing home residents between March and July 2020 occurred in facilities where at least 10% of residents were in rooms with three or more people.
Forty percent more Black and Hispanic residents of Illinois nursing homes died from COVID-19 than would be expected, in part because they were more likely than whites to be living in three- and four-person rooms.
That statistic on preventable deaths related to overcrowding, as well as other numbers described as “tragic” and “a call to action” by advocates for nursing home residents, were presented to two Illinois House committees Wednesday by officials from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.
The HFS analysis of COVID-19-related deaths between March 2020 and July 2020 the first wave of the pandemic provided the first in-depth look at racial and ethnic disparities surrounding the way nursing home residents are housed.