Meaningful health care reform, not Medicare Cuts : Arlene Miles

In more than 90% of nursing facilities in Colorado, we see first hand the challenges patients and caregivers in our nation's health care delivery system - one important element is the long-term care. Our caregivers, who provide some of our country's most needy elderly and disabled, have a meaningful health care reform. We must continue, health care , to improve patient care, greater efficiency in the bar and stem rising health care costs - but not at the expense of our nation's, health care , nursing home residents and, health care , those who care.The current government recently imposed cuts of at least 12 billion dollars for nursing for seniors and people with disabilities. Now the House health reform bill proposes additional 32 billion U.S. dollars in Medicare cuts to skilled nursing care. Reform is necessary, but we do not believe that Congress fully, health care , understands the serious consequences of these combined cuts will have on the quality of skilled nursing care and so many jobs in healthcare community, health care , .If deep additional cuts required by proposed Congress approved skilled nursing, health care , facilities in, health care , Colorado can be forced to cut much-needed services, a negative impact on the quality of care, health care , in long term care can provide. Patient care and quality of life is directly related to an adequately trained staff and quality of employees. While we, health care , work to ensure that the 47 million uninsured Americans the care they need access to support, we want to ensure that the care we provide is still the quality of care that every American should expect.At longest care communities, 80 percent of the patients and care residents rely on Medicare and Medicaid to pay for their care and services. Medicare cuts to be reinforced by the fact that Medicare funding helps to balance of chronic underfunding of Medicaid skilled nursing care - a growing problem in the current fiscal climate like Colorado pursuing, health care , Medicaid cuts. These reductions are a disproportionate burden to place on our most vulnerable citizens who rely on Medicare for nursing, health care , home care. In Colorado alone will,, health care , cuts up to 421 million U.S. dollars less in funding, health care , for the next ten years.Health nursing care reform is not the quality of, health care , the care of patients by removing the resources of an already overburdened system. We have the ability to approve a fair public policy to maintain that quality of care for senior and disabled population of our country to guarantee. Congress must stop this additional savings on nursing home care. We urge policymakers to consider deep cuts already made and that the means for ensuring nursing can be maintained, so that our mothers, fathers and grandparents, who rely on expert nursing care will receive the quality of care they deserve. Arlene Miles is president and CEO of the Colorado Health Care Association.