Nursing Home, Care Provider Budget Cuts Opposed
BY DAN MILLER

Photo Dan Miller/DMD Images Assemblymember Rory Lancman (D-Queens, c.) organized a healthcare panel at the Silvercrest Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Briarwood March 7. He was joined by (l.) Scott Amrhein, president of the Continuing Care Leadership Coalition, and Cosmo J. LaCosta, Senior Vice President, Continuum Care, Silvercrest Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation.

Assemblymember Rory Lancman (DQueens) has taken the lead in the Assembly to fight proposed cuts in the governor's budget to nursing homes and home healthcare providers.

Lancman organized a panel of nursing home managers and home healthcare providers Friday March 7 at the Silvercrest Nursing Home in Briarwood to discuss the impact of Spitzer's proposed budget cuts and ways to oppose these cuts. "We need to protect the people who care for our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. We cannot force nursing homes to cut corners with the care they provide our loved ones," Lancman said.

City Councilmember David Weprin said, "It is going to be a tough budget year. I am a very strong supporter of the long-term care health industry and this association that does a great job." Weprin offered his support to those who are opposing the cuts proposed by the governor.

The proposed state budget includes a $215 million cut to nursing homes and a cut of 35 percent in future budgets. Home health care in the proposed state budget is slated to receive a $100 million cut which compounds with a $900 million payment reduction to both nursing homes and home healthcare providers.

The participating nursing home and home healthcare providers included St. Mary's Hospital for Children, Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care & Rehabilitation, Jamaica Hospital, P&R Health Care (Brooklyn), Meadow Park Healthcare Facility, Silver Crest Nursing Home Facility, VNR Visiting Nurse Regional Health Care System and the Continuing Care Leadership Coalition (CCLC) that represents more than 100 nursing facilities that would be affected by the governor's budget cuts.

Scott C. Amrhein, CCLC president, helped coordinate Lancman's efforts to head off the proposed cuts. Amrhein told the Gazette, "We are deeply, deeply concerned about these cuts. The size of the cuts the governor proposed is so much bigger than what is being talked about. We estimate that more than $900 million will be taken out of the long-term care industry in New York state between now and the end of 2009. You can only imagine how devastating that would be if these cuts would be allowed to go through. The providers are deeply dependent upon the Medicaid program as a funding source. Seventy to 80 percent of their costs are for the healthcare providers to deliver services. So if you've got a cut of that magnitude, almost $1 billion over the next couple of years, the only possible outcome can be fewer staff and lower quality care."

Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care & Rehabilitation President and Chief Executive Officer Michael N. Rosenblut also shared some of his concerns with the Gazette. Rosenblut, said, "We believe that with the CCLC and the Parker Jewish Institute, our message is being carried to our elected officials. It is important that the elected officials realize that we are all mission based organizations who are about caring for people. The Parker Jewish Institute cares for 1,100 individuals per day. We try to do it in a quality fashion. We would like to continue in a quality fashion. And we need our elected officials really to help us."

Rosenblut outlined three important facts to Lancman and Weprin.

• Fact One: New York's senior population is growing dramatically, and it is imperative that the state invest in a strong, stable, forward-looking long-term care system to meet the needs of older and disabled citizens.

• Fact Two: New Yorkers are looking for more, not fewer, long-term care options to meet their needs. We need a budget that will support, encourage and enable providers to innovate and develop new services to meet the chronic care needs of New Yorkers in their communities.

• Fact Three: Quality caregivers are the foundation of quality care. It is impossible to have quality long-term care in this state without making the necessary investment to ensure there will be enough well-trained, qualified, direct care workers to meet the long-term care needs of older citizens.

Besides Lancman, Weprin, Amrhein and Rosenblut, speakers who added their voices to oppose the governor's budget cuts included Lourdes Ventura Esq., counsel to state Senator Malcolm Smith, Parker Jewish Assistant Vice President, Public and Government Affairs, Ron Shafran, and David Schwartz, Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care & Rehabilitation Occupational Therapist, Mark Hoffacker, advocacy manager, St. Mary's Healthcare System for Children (Bayside), Cosmo J. LaCosta, Senior Vice President, Continuum Care, Silvercrest Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, Michael Tretola, Vice President and Assistant Administrator, Silvercrest Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation and Monica Mahaffey, Visiting Nurse Regional Health Care System.

A petition to Spitzer and members of the legislature was distributed, along with packets of information that would be helpful to those contacting elected officials who will have to vote on the governor's proposed budget package that will include the devastating cuts.