Ohio nursing homes defend state funding

A report released this week by the Ohio Health Care Association asserts that institutional care is not to blame for the state’s budget crisis (Source: “Nursing homes defend funding,” Columbus Dispatch, Jan. 13, 2011).

Long Term Care and the State Budget notes that although overall Medicaid costs have jumped 26 percent since 2004, spending on nursing-home care for the Medicaid population has been flat because fewer people are receiving institutional care during that time period.

"I think it goes against conventional wisdom that spending on long-term care is really driving the Medicaid budget and overall (state) spending," said Pete Van Runkle, president of the association representing nursing homes and assisted-living facilities across the state.