DHS secretary-designee visits EC, talks Medicaid expansion
"Turnover is pretty significant in this community," Rosemeyer said. "It's very hard to compete (in wages) with other medical facilities or
Rosemeyer gave a tour of her facility on Thursday to state Sen.
Palm and Smith were there to discuss Gov.
"Medicaid expansion is absolutely the anchor of the
Palm acknowledged the challenges of getting the Legislature on board with a plan to accept the federal dollars.
"I think we are anxious to have those talks with the Legislature about those investments," Palm said. "It gets at the concerns we're hearing around the state."
Rosemeyer operates a 110-bed facility, but it usually has about 100 residents, and numbers are down, largely because of the lack of staffing. About 59 percent of residents use Medicaid at the facility, she added.
Smith said that 33 nursing home facilities have closed in the state in about the past year because of the financial challenges, and he said that could continue if the state doesn't take the Medicaid expansion.
"I'm glad the governor is including that money in the budget," Smith said.
Palm added that the Medicaid expansion dollars also could be used for behavioral health care and treatment for the rising meth and opioid crisis.
"We think (accepting the federal money) will improve health and well-being across the state," Palm said.
State Sen.
"Medicaid expansion isn't the magic bullet, and I'm tired of politicians pretending it is," Bernier said. "The idea is that people in poverty were supposed to go on 'Obamacare.' Clearly, Obamacare (the 2010 Affordable Care Act) is an absolute failure, and now they are grappling to get more federal dollars when the problem is Obamacare. In the end, the state taxpayers wind up holding the bag."
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