Alabama council to look at long-term health care

MONTGOMERY — Although Gov. Bob Riley imposed a moratorium on new nursing home beds, the State Healthcare Coordinating Council voted 19-1 Thursday not to add the cap as a permanent part of the State Health Plan.

The council's long-term care committee recommended the council make Riley's cap on new beds part of the 2004-2007 guide for health planning. Among other purposes, Alabama uses the plan to help determine whether to approve construction and licensing for new health care facilities in the state.

"The proposal bothers me," said former state Rep. Jim Haney of Huntsville, who is a council member. "If we do this, we are saying that nursing home beds are strictly in the hands of Medicaid. Medicaid wants us to not put in the State Health Plan that we can't have more beds. That does not mean there is no more need for beds. Let's not cut our own throats here by capping these permanently."

The council decided to appoint a committee to study how other states handle long-term care costs and look for alternatives to traditional care.

Linda Jordan of Ashland, who chaired the committee, said Medicaid Commissioner Carol Herrmann wanted the cap to help hold down rapid Medicaid cost increases.

Jordan said Herrmann's request came because of the number of nursing home patients who end up on Medicaid after they spend down their own funds. Jordan said about 75 percent of nursing home patients in the state have Medicaid coverage, and the state expects the number to grow.

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