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"Emergency legislation went into effect on Thursday that will help close the reimbursement gap for Maine's nursing homes.\"It's a population that continues to grow, and you know I think every facility in the state wants to do the best that they can, and it's sometimes difficult to do when the funding's not there,\" said Seaside Health Care Administrator Jacob Anderson.Medicaid reimbursements to Maine nursing homes have been underwater for years.According to a state commission that studied the reimbursement gap, nursing home facilities lose in excess of $100 per day per Medicaid patient.\"The biggest impact will be those in rural Maine where the majority of them are relying on the Medicaid program,\" said Anderson.Urban locations have more access to private pay patients, but the extra funding will make a difference.\"The goal at the outset was to try and tackle what was becoming an access issue,\" said John Watson, chief financial officer for The Cedars.Watson worked on the commission to study long-term car facilities and exposed the $40 million problem.\"That's the difference between actual allowable cost of care and reimbursement,\" said Watson.On Thursday, the commission's recommendations were enacted into law.It means $10 million from the state budget over the next two years will go to nursing homes, and $25 million in federal money to also provide care.\"Those folks that are here are not home care folks. They don't have an option to be at home. They are folks who clinically, medically the doctor said this is where you need to be,\" said Watson.The money also means five Maine nursing homes will not have to close their doors."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wmtw.com/article/bill-closes-nursing-home-medicaid-reimbursements-gap/2002316>