MOLINE — Nursing home leaders are calling on Gov. Bruce Rauner and lawmakers in Springfield to not push through new cutbacks they say could result in job losses and closures.
In an interview with the editorial board of The Dispatch/Rock Island Argus Thursday, Pat Comstock, executive director of the Health Care Council of Illinois, said Gov. Rauner's proposed budget would cut Medicaid funding to nursing homes by 16 percent.
The medicaid funding covers the cost of stays for residents who have exhausted all their assets.
Ms. Comstock said that because nursing homes must comply with federal regulations on the services they provide, it's difficult for them to absorb large reductions in funding.
"We can't cut our services to bridge the gap because they are mandated by the federal government or else we'll get fines and sanctions," she said.
The Health Care Council of Illinois, a nursing home industry association, is predicting that dozens of nursing homes could be forced to close if Gov. Rauner's cutbacks are implemented and that nursing homes that have high Medicaid populations would be particularly vulnerable.
In Rock Island County, 50 percent of the 1,218 nursing home residents are covered by Medicaid, according to the association.
Five nursing homes in the county -- Aspen Rehab, Hope Creek Care Center, Riverwood Rehab, Rock Island Nursing and Rehab, and St. Anthony's Nursing and Rehab -- have 55 percent or more of their residents covered by Medicaid.
Gov. Rauner's spokeswoman, Catherine Kelly, said the state is facing a $6 billion deficit for the budget year that begins July 1 because of "insider deals and overspending by career politicians."
Medicaid accounts for nearly one-third of all state spending, so it must be part of the solution, she said. "This is the budget we can afford," Ms. Kelly said in response to a question about the concerns of nursing home advocates.
Ms. Comstock joined nursing home residents at St. Anthony's Nursing and Rehab in Rock Island Thursday to collect signatures to take to the governor's office in opposition to the cutbacks. About 74 percent of the 130 beds at St. Anthony's are covered by Medicaid.
Ms. Comstock said nursing homes already have "cut everywhere we can cut" and urged lawmakers in Springfield to reach a compromise that doesn't balance the budget "on the backs of seniors in nursing homes."
Lawmakers have until the end of May to negotiate and pass a budget, and Gov. Rauner's spending plan is facing resistance from Democrats who have majorities in the House and Senate.
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