Missouri Nursing Homes in Financial Crisis

Twenty-two million dollars for Missouri nursing homes has been added to one of the budget proposals in the Legislature. But nursing homes should not be making any big spending plans. Missouri’s nursing home industry says it is in a financial crisis…that the money it receives from state and local sources fails to keep up with expenses of the care of the elderly….and the problem is getting worse.The state Senate has added 22-million dollars to a proposed state budget. Senator Bill Kenney of Lee’s Summit hopes it’s enough to offset labor costs. But Senators of both parties who are on the Senate Appropriations Committee say the state does not have the money to pay those increased costs. One Senator suggests dipping into money the state will get from the national tobacco lawsuit settlement–but that money is not certain. And furthermore, lawmakers are fighting about what to do with it–and until now, nobody has recommended paying for increased nursing home costs with it.