The funds were issued to help nursing homes and other residential care facilities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
As many of the nation's nursing homes struggle to maintain operations under strained finances, the state of Maine is lending its own facilities a helping hand.
On April 27, Governor Janet Mills' administration recently issued $25 million in COVID-19 supplemental payments to 129 long-term care organizations and 262 service locations throughout the state to help in the continued recovery from the pandemic. The funds will come from MaineCare (Medicaid) payments as part of the supplemental budget that Mills signed into law in February.
The funds will be distributed according to facility need, determined by historical revenue, resident vacancy rates, and spending on contract labor due to the workforce shortage.
"Long-term care facilities provide critical services for Maine people, and they are still feeling the lingering impacts of the pandemic—challenges that have only been made more difficult by increased cost," Mills said in a statement. "I am pleased we are getting these resources into the hands of our nursing facilities and other caregivers so they can continue to do their important work."
This is the second time this fiscal year that the Maine Department of Health and Human Services has provided COVID-19 payments to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. In August 2022, the Maine DHHS issued $25 million to state facilities.
Angela Westhoff, president and CEO of the Maine Health Care Association, said in a statement that the state's long-term care facilities are still struggling financially in the aftermath of the pandemic, as well as with the staffing shortage affecting all of healthcare.
"This supplemental support comes at a critical time as nursing home and residential care facilities are experiencing atypical and exorbitant costs," she said. "We are grateful for the administration and the legislature's support and look forward to a continued partnership to address the workforce crisis and preserve access to long-term care."
This round of payments will be available for the duration of the current 2023 fiscal year, into the 2024 fiscal year.
Jasmyne Ray is the revenue cycle editor at HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
This is the second time Maine governor Janet Mills' administration has issued COVID0-19 payments to the state's long-term care facilities.
The amount a facility recieves will be based on need, resident vacancy rates, and how much it has spent on contact labor due to the workforce shortage.