Bartolotta bill provides additional reimbursements for nursing home ventilator care

Dec. 6--State Sen. Camera Bartolotta has co-introduced a bill to direct additional funding to facilities that provide ventilator or tracheostomy care, which fewer nursing homes are doing because of declining reimbursements.

Bartolotta, R-46, Carroll Township, Washington County, and Sen. Daniel Laughlin, R-Erie County, introduced Senate Bill 959 on Nov. 20 and it was referred to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

A joint statement said there are about 700 patients in Pennsylvania receiving Medicaid-covered ventilator or tracheostomy care in nursing homes, but the number of providers is dropping because of limited reimbursements for certain expenses, such as specialized equipment, supplies and staff.

The senators' statement said more than 300 of those 700 patients receiving services are being treated in just 13 nursing homes. The statement said the bill would have additional Medicaid reimbursements directed to facilities "that serve a large percentage of patients" needing ventilator and tracheostomy care.

"The largest provider of ventilator and tracheostomy care in the state recently filed for bankruptcy protection," Bartolotta said. "That underscores just how serious this crisis has become."

A tracheostomy is when a tube is inserted in the neck to provide a patient with an airway.

"Providing this kind of care is hard work, and it is expensive," Bartolotta said. "Ensuring providers are reimbursed for these costs will not only preserve access to care, but will also provide an incentive for more providers to offer these services in their own communities."

As providers cut back or eliminate services, the senators' statement said, patients and their families must travel farther to access care in "one of the dwindling number of nursing homes that offer these services" or go to a hospital that can charge much more than a nursing home.

"Over the past 10 years, Medicaid payments for ventilator and tracheostomy services have declined, and it's time we start to take care of, what I consider, some of Pennsylvania's most vulnerable citizens," Laughlin said. "I believe we are at a critical juncture and if we don't properly fund this type of care soon we will have a crisis on our hands."

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