Jim Cooper, past president of the Arkansas Health Care Association and himself a nursing-home owner, told Gwen Moritz of Arkansas Business how bright the picture has become for state nursing-home owners since Medicaid significantly increased the reimbursements for each resident.
Cooper, of Melbourne, said three quarters of our state’s homes are now profitable.
“We have increased our staffing by almost double,” he said. “We have increased our wages and our benefits. Our food’s better, our buildings are better. … No longer do people think of us as cinder block buildings with three people in a room.”
Since Medicaid altered its funding formula in 2001, the payments to many state nursing homes have doubled or more. The average daily rate paid now is about $165. Reimbursement rates in Arkansas range from a low of $121 to a Calico Rock home, to $193 to another in Jonesboro. Davis Life Care Center in Pine Bluff somehow went from losing $691,000 in 2011 to an income of $6 million in 2012, Moritz also reported.
When it comes to nursing-home management, Cooper explained the revised Medicaid formula has transformed Arkansas into “the envy of the region.”
That kind of rejoicing is darned near enough to make 66-yearold me want to check in to a home tomorrow. I said almost. I do understand there are some quality, truly caring nursing homes in Arkansas. And Jim Cooper may well own one or more of them.
I detest the role of party pooper, but celebrating seems highly premature. I continue to harbor grave concerns over the way our state’s inspectors routinely document far too many Arkansas nursing-home residents treated in shameful ways.
Lest you believe I’m exaggerating (again), consider the latest report from the state’s Department of Human Services which Martha Deaver, president of Arkansas Advocates for Nursing Home Residents, says contains an astounding 2,400 violations in the category of actual harm or potential of death among some 18,000 residents of Arkansas’ 231 nursing homes during 2012.
That’s a disgraceful number of serious violations in an industry that supposedly has become the envy of the region.
While I don’t begrudge nursing-home owners who have done well financially, I can’t understand how their staffs can be practically doubled, salaries increased and food improved, yet still have such an abysmal overall record when it comes to residents being harmed or worse. It causes me and others to wonder when we can expect more documented accountability for positive performances that justify the hundreds of millions of tax dollars being provided to homes now reaping record profits.
The state’s own statistics on serious violations during 2012 alone tell me how far Arkansas has to go to legitimately boast that happy days are here again for aged, infirm and disabled nursing-home residents.
A successful former nursing-home owner and manager I respect said he knows what’s required to operate a home that provides meaningful care, and it’s not policy wonking from the ownership: “It takes a hands-on manager willing to put the welfare, comfort and health of residents above all else. When that happens, the bottom line takes care of itself.” A request
Welcome to the University of Arkansas on Tuesday, Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, where you’ll speak about growing rural economies while protecting natural resources. We need your attention and some assistance on a related matter of growing national significance.
That’s why I’m writing this open request (let’s call it more of a plea) on behalf of many thousands of Arkansans and U.S. citizens who for decades have been enjoying the federally protected Buffalo National River. These visitors to such an American treasure bring millions annually to local economies.
Will you please ask your Inspector General’s Office to conduct an objective and thorough inquiry into the manner in which the local Farm Service Agency approved its loan for the first hog concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in the Buffalo watershed?
The FSA’s loan approval, specifically its deeply controversial environmental assessment report, has been publicly (and I believe most legitimately) questioned on no fewer than 45 specific points by the National Park Service as being woefully incomplete, mistaken and questionable at best. For example, it lists the Park Service as a supporting agency when the agency was not even contacted or notified about this CAFO. This alone goes to the very heart of the loan’s integrity.
I believe it’s imperative in the public interest (and for the credibility of your agency) that the questions raised about the FSA’s role here be objectively examined and resolved honorably.
Your Inspector General’s Office says it investigates issues affecting the effectiveness and integrity of the delivery of USDA programs. Those specifically include practices related to proper agency management and potential conflicts of interest, which is why I (and many others) are today turning to you for assistance.
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Mike Masterson’s column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected]. Read his blog at mikemastersonsmessenger.com.
Editorial, Pages 79 on 04/21/2013