NE-Pisgah Valley Retirement Community

As a provider of high-quality aging services and a member of the American
Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA), I urge you not to
make final the proposed rule CMS-1534-P, which would make a technical
recalibration in Medicare rates for skilled nursing facilities.
Your agency has estimated that this proposed rule would cut Medicare payments
to skilled nursing facilities by $770 million or 3.3% in 2009. The long-term care
field cannot afford to lose those resources at a time when the costs fo food,
heating, and cooling, and other essentials for our residents are escalating rapidly.
For the last few years, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has found
that not-for-profit nursing facilites like mine have barely broken even on the
Medicare payments we recieve for residents needing skilled nursing care. The
proposed rule will reduce the resources I use to attract and retain the qualified
staff who care for my residents and to cover the cost of medications and other
essential elements of high-quality long-term care. If my Medicare reimbursement
goes below the break-even point, I don't know how my facility is supposed to
continue providing the care my residents require.
The frail elders I serve and the staff who care for them deserve adequate resources
to fund the care they need. Please do not make this damaging rule final.