(Grand Forks, N.D.) – State Leaders of the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) from across the country met with their senators and representatives this week, asking them to pass an extension of the enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP). They also urged the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to implement a provision of the recently enacted health care reform law, which eliminates Medicare Part D copayments for dual eligibles—individuals eligible for Medicaid and Medicare—in assisted living as soon as possible.
Ron Whetter, controller at Edgewood Management, LLC (Edgewood) in Grand Forks, N.D., and NCAL state leaders representing 18 states participated in nearly 45 meetings on Capitol Hill with senators, representatives or congressional staff. Whetter met with Sen. Byron Dorgan (N.D.), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and congressional staff for Rep. Earl Pomeroy (N.D.), Sen. Kent Conrad (N.D.) and Rep. Jim Oberstart (Minn.), encouraging them to increase FMAP funding.
If Congress does not extend the temporary increase in FMAP funding, states will confront an 8 percent drop in federal Medicaid funding on Jan. 1, 2011. The enhanced funding was originally passed as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The enhanced FMAP should be extended by six months, according to state leaders.
Medicaid is the largest payer of long term care and services, providing support for 13 percent of the nation’s assisted living residents and 64 percent of the nursing facility patients. Forty-six states offer assisted living to beneficiaries through Medicaid waiver or state plans.
The average assisted living resident is an 87-year-old woman with a median annual income of $19,000, according to a national research study.
“The temporary FMAP increase is vital to preserving assisted living residents’ ongoing access to their care and services,” says David Kyllo, NCAL’s executive director.
Kyllo also remarked that the recently enacted health care reform law includes a provision that requires Medicare Part D to cover drug co-payments for dual eligibles in residential settings no earlier than Jan. 1, 2012.
However, as written, the law does not include a firm deadline for implementation. NCAL State Leaders are asking members of Congress to send a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to implement Medicare Part D co-payments by Jan. 1, 2012.
“NCAL believes that eliminating the co-payments by Jan. 1, 2012, will require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to begin working on the implementation during 2011 to communicate the changes to the payment systems, Part D plan networks and the states,” says Kyllo.
The National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) represents more than 2,600 not-for-profit and proprietary assisted living and residential care communities dedicated to continuous improvement in the delivery of professional compassionate care and services for the elderly and disabled. NCAL is the assisted living voice of the American Health Care Association. For more information, please visit www.NCAL.org
Edgewood Management Group, LLC. in Grand Forks, N.D., is the leading owner, operator and management agency of senior living facilities in the upper Midwest. Since 1992, EMG has been committed to helping seniors stay as independent as possible, for as long as possible, with well-trained staff members in communities designed for residents to receive various living and care options. Currently, EMG owns and operates independent living, assisted living and memory care communities, with 27 properties in six states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska, and the combined ability to serve more than 1,900 residents. For more information, please visit www.Edgewood-EMG.com
Forward-looking StatementsStatements contained in this release other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding anticipated financial performance, business strategy and management plans and objectives for future operations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements generally include words such as expect, intend, will, anticipate, believe, estimate, plan, strategy or objectives or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on EMG’s forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements contained in this release are necessarily estimates reflecting the best judgment of the party making such statements based upon current information, and EMG assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
