OHCA Advocates for Rate Relief
As the Ohio General Assembly prepares to consider Governor Kasich's Mid-Biennium Budget Review (MBR) legislation, OHCA is requesting Medicaid rate relief for hard-pressed members. According to state figures, spending on skilled nursing facility care through the first six months of the biennium was $39 million less than the already reduced amount that the state had budgeted. Our request simply would ensure that the planned amount is spent by raising the direct care price to a level that would fit the original appropriation. We are pointing out that not only were SNFs' Medicaid payments cut by $360 million for the biennium, they also sustained a $400 million Medicare cut. As a result, thousands of caregivers have lost their jobs, and some Ohio SNFs have been forced to close. Moving the unspent dollars into the direct care price would help prevent additional job reductions and preserve quality care for patients. We currently are educating members of the General Assembly in preparation for the MBR.