The Impact of Recent State and Federal Legislation

The Impact of Recent State and Federal Legislation Paper

MHA/515

The Impact of Recent State and Federal Legislation

References

• The impact of the Affordable Care Act legislation on Nursing Home Care and Chronic Conditions
• Executive Summary
  • Elderly Americans in nursing homes have different types of medical issues that arise and need care for, these are chronic conditions and developing treatment strategies to diminish lasting difficulties of these medical conditions (Larrat, Marcoux, & Vogenberg, 2012, p. 218). The problem is in the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) legislation it is not just the care of the patient that the facility must focus on but also the problems occurring under the ACA regarding insurance coverage and reimbursement for all residents. The nursing home facilities have had to work with insurance companies that have to go by what overarching federal initiatives have to say, such as the ACA. The ACA affects Medicaid, which assists in nursing home care for the elderly and because of recent legislation may force the elderly out of their nursing homes because of steep budget cuts. Many of the elderly in nursing homes began with home care and in middle class; however, after using all their savings and selling off all their possessions for their care, they have entered nursing homes on Medicaid status (Rau, 2017). The proposed legislation of the Better Care Reconciliation Act will estimate a major federal cut to the Medicaid program by $772 billion, which saves the government money but harms the elderly who lose their nursing home care (O’Brien, 2017).
• Recommendations
  • Anti-Injunction Act prohibition on consideration of the individual coverage requirement
  • Constitutionality of the individual coverage
  • Severability of the individual coverage requirement
  • Constitutionality of the federally required Medicaid expansion
• Introduction
  • Elderly Americans are living longer than ever before and therefore often need care in their old age. These can be people that do not have the funds to live independently or do not have family or friends that can care for them at home and need the care of a nursing home for their needs. However, under the current ACA legislation insurance companies are changing how they are able to reimburse facilities for the care of these elderly patients and this can mean forcing the elderly resident back into home care. Some legislations allow for a really large cut to the funding for Medicaid which can affect an elderly resident’s care and their quality of life. There needs to be a change to policy that protects the funding for Medicaid so that the elderly residents are not forced out of their nursing home facilities which affect their quality of life.
  • Recommendations
  • Anti-Injunction Act prohibition on consideration of the individual coverage requirement
  • Constitutionality of the individual coverage
  • Severability of the individual coverage requirement
  • Constitutionality of the federally required Medicaid expansion.
  • Body
  • Overview of the problem
  • Elderly Americans are living longer than ever before and therefore often need care in their old age. Medicare is the first source that government (state and federal) cut when funds are needed elsewhere. These cuts have horrible consequences for the elderly residents in nursing home facilities that depend on that funding so that they receive quality care for their medical needs in their old age. When these funds are cut the elderly residents are sometimes forced out of nursing home and have no one to provide care for them and cannot live alone but cannot afford to live in a facility.
  • Review of relevant research
  • Better Care Reconciliation Act will cut Medicaid funding even more
  • Medicaid changes under the ACA legislation and funding costs.
  • Policies under the ACA legislation affecting insurance coverage for nursing home residents.
  • Application of research results
  • Court actions to determine if the ACA and the individual insurance can be severed.
  • Actions to prevent policies that provide additional cuts to federal funding of Medicaid.
  • Policy implications
  • Steep budget cuts to Medicaid under the ACA legislation change in policy will allow more seniors to live peacefully in their nursing homes so that they can obtain proper care
  • New policy would make it easier for nursing homes to receive reimbursement from care for the elderly and their chronic conditions as well as acute care.
  • Stop more cuts to funding for Medicaid by not approving the Better Care Reconciliation Act.
  • Conclusion
  • Elderly Americans are living longer than ever before and therefore often need care in their old age. Medicare is the first source that government (state and federal) cut when funds are needed elsewhere. These cuts have horrible consequences for the elderly residents in nursing home facilities that depend on that funding so that they receive quality care for their medical needs in their old age. When these funds are cut the elderly residents are sometimes forced out of nursing home and have no one to provide care for them and cannot live alone but cannot afford to live in a facility. There are several policies in place that will cause additional cuts to funding and this will further harm the elderly and their situation at nursing homes and affect the quality of care they receive.

  Larrat, E. P., Marcoux, R. M., & Vogenberg, F. R. (2012). Impact of Federal and State Legal Trends on Health Care Services. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 37(4), 218–226.

  O’Brien, E. (2017). What Would Happen to Seniors in Nursing Homes Under the Republican Health Care Bill? Retrieved from http://time.com/money/4837828/what-would-happen-to-seniors-in-nursing-homes-under-the-republican-health-care-bill/

  Rau, J. (2017, June 24). Medicaid Cuts May Force Retirees Out of Nursing Homes. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/24/science/medicaid-cutbacks-elderly-nursing-homes.html