Long-Term Care Industry in need of immediate assistance
On June 6, 2016, I spoke with community members and Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker. The meeting began with the topic “things we loved about Wisconsin.” The community members in the room had many commonalities and passions which included our sports teams, natural resources, agriculture, our values including hard work, wine, beer, and of course, cheese.
Following that discussion, we switched to a more serious topic “
what do we want Wisconsin to look like in 10 years.” When the time came for me to speak, I spoke that thinking ahead 10 years is unrealistic for our Long-Term Care Industry because unfortunately, it needs immediate assistance. According to the Pew Research Center, each day it is estimated that 10,000 individuals are turning the age of 65.
In our Post-Acute Care Industry which is comprised of skilled nursing homes, assisted livings, independent livings, and group home settings, we have the privilege to take care of some of our community’s most frail and vulnerable seniors. Unfortunately, the state of Wisconsin does not recognize the burden of this task at hand. Wisconsin has the worst Medicaid state reimbursement according to the national accounting/consulting firms of Eljay LLP and Hansen Hunter & Company PC for the American Health Care Association, the national affiliate of WHCA. The report was released in May of 2016 and sheds light to the reasoning behind why facilities are in a state of crisis.
- Facilities are seeing an average loss of $55.89 per Medicaid resident per day, just for the cost to take care of them. This translates to an average facility loss of over 1.1 million dollars a year.
- Nursing facilities in Wisconsin rely on 65% of their revenues to be Medicaid funded on average.
What this means is that funding is short or not existent for community programming and facility improvements, as well as staff and labor advancements.
So what can we do? We need to make strides as the state of Minnesota has done with contacting our local legislative members and discussing your concerns with them. Much of the changes that need to occur are at the legislative level. By sharing your concerns, you are stating we care about the wellbeing of our senior population and it is time we invest into ours and their future.
To learn about The Lutheran Home Association and our efforts to provide the highest quality care for the growing elderly population, please visit our website. The Lutheran Home Association is dedicated to providing for the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of people in our care. We offer a wide variety of health care, housing, and spiritual outreach services with campuses in Minnesota (Belle Plaine, Mankato, New Ulm), and Wisconsin (Fountain City, River Falls, Watertown).