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- Maryland / Regional
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Nursing Homes Face Reductions In Services
(Washington Post)
- National / International
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- Opinion
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- Maryland / Regional
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Nursing
Homes Face Reductions In Services
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- By Chris L. Jenkins
- Washington Post
- Sunday, February 8, 2009; C06
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- ***********
- One in a series of reports exploring the impact of
budget cuts being contemplated by elected officials in
Maryland and Virginia.
- ***********
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- Inside the Heritage Hall nursing home in Leesburg,
mid-morning light streams into a first-floor dining hall.
Many of the dozen or so seniors who chat and nap have stayed
after breakfast to enjoy each other's company.
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- Instead of having meals brought to their rooms on carts,
the residents walk or wheel themselves in line and select
from steak fingers or chicken, an assortment of vegetables
and two desserts, dished up by staff members.
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- The full-service dining hall may seem like a standard
service for a nursing home. But in this year of budget cuts,
this service is a luxury that might not last. Heritage Home
pays an extra $1.50 per resident, per day -- $600,000 a year
-- to allow them to choose their meals.
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- As part of his budget proposal to fill a $3 billion
budget gap, Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) has proposed
cutting $400 million from the state's Medicaid program. In
Maryland, state budget writers have frozen a planned $96
million increase in Medicaid funds to community
organizations that would cover the rising costs of services,
according to the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute.
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- The federal-state health-care program for the poor and
disabled pays for about 60 percent of the residents at
Heritage Hall. Because often a high fraction of nursing-home
residents are Medicaid patients, nursing homes usually are
hit hardest when state governments cut back funding.
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- "There is quality of care, and there's quality of life,"
said Ted LeNeave, president and chief executive of American
HealthCare, which owns the 16-facility chain. Quality of
care, he explains, are the basics: food, shelter, medical
treatment. "Not one nursing home will ever cut down on these
services," he said.
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- But quality of life are the things that make life fun --
a field trip, entertainment, a fully stocked library, Get
Your Hair Done Day. "It's more than just bingo," he said.
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- Under Kaine's proposal, the 164-bed nursing home would
take a $2.5 million hit. Already, LeNeave has let four
people at the Roanoke headquarters go. He knows
nickel-and-dime cuts won't close the gap. In times like
these, LeNeave said he tries to look for more private-pay
customers to make up for the increasing cuts in Medicaid.
But there are only so many he can recruit.
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- His plans now involve cutting $500,000 of the $2.5
million from his staff health-care plans. That means his
employees could see between $700 and $1,000 increases in
their premiums annually.
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- "All of these are to avoid having the residents feel
anything," he said.
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- After that, he said, quality-of-life activities are on
the block. Chances are it won't be hair day. "That would
cause a riot," LeNeave said. As LeNeave speaks, a woman in a
purple smock is getting her new hairdo touched up. The
hairdresser fluffs it up with a comb and blow dryer. The
hairdresser holds up a mirror. In the reflection, a smile.
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- Copyright 2009 Washington Post.
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- National / International
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- Opinion
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