Legislature’s nursing homes cuts should worry everyone
It can be easy to avoid thinking about nursing homes, especially if you’re young or healthy. But every Floridian — young or old, healthy or infirm, fifth-generation or recent transplant — should pay careful attention to what is happening in our state’s longterm care facilities because it could hit every one of us where it really hurts: our wallets.
Florida has the nation’s highest percentage of seniors, and our older population is growing at an unprecedented pace. Many of these retirees have disposable income that fuels our economy and eases the tax burden on the rest of us. But, sadly, many eventually need the services of nursing homes. Fortunately, Florida’s nursing homes are among the best in the nation.
But right now those nursing homes are challenged by a reduction in state funding, and all of us who pay attention to health care can be affected.
As a board member at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, I am deeply concerned about the impact on public hospitals from diminished funding for nursing home care. And as a director of the Florida Alliance for Consumers and Taxpayers, I worry that taxpayers will ultimately pay the price when increasing numbers of seniors show up at emergency rooms because nursing homes weren’t there to care for them.
This problem has been brewing for years, a result of the rising demand and escalating costs associated with Florida’s ever-growing senior population. The Legislature tried to help in 2018, when it provided $137 million for one-time quality improvements at nursing homes.
This year the Legislature provided significantly less funding, and that reduction came as nursing homes invested in expensive generators to protect their residents during power outages.
This year the Legislature provided significantly less funding, and that reduction came as nursing homes invested in expensive generators to protect their residents during power outages.
It didn’t take long for the change to ripple through our state. I’m starting to hear of nursing homes imposing cutbacks by reducing services and eliminating jobs. Those positions aren’t just numbers on a ledger, they are real people whose work lives are dedicated to helping other real people.
If the Legislature does not restore at least the previous level of funding, we can expect to see several unwanted results:
■ Continued service cutbacks will diminish the quality of life for elders.
■ Laid-off workers will create a burden on social services programs, from unemployment compensation to food stamps to Medicaid.
■ Elders who otherwise could have received appropriate care in a nursing home will instead be forced to turn to emergency rooms for their care, often paid by the taxpayers.
■ The high quality of care among Florida’s nursing homes will suffer long-term damage.
This is the law of unintended consequences at its worst.
Those of us who work in the health care realm understand that nursing homes are just one part of Florida’s overall continuum of care, and its needs must be balanced against many other priorities. But we also recognize that for many of Florida’s frailest residents, excellent nursing homes are in the best position to provide them with a high quality of life while avoiding more costly, less effective alternatives.
It’s in everyone’s best interest to keep Florida’s nursing homes on a steady path to quality. So much depends on the Legislature’s decisions on funding for quality care. Amid so many competing needs, I hope they recognize the importance of making sure Florida has the best nursing homes available for those residents who need them.