Fasano, Senate GOP Call For Special Session On Nursing Home Funds

CT Government: Today Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano (R-North Haven) and the Connecticut Senate Republican Caucus called on lawmakers to override a portion of the Democrat-approved state budget that cut Medicaid funding for Connecticut nursing homes. In a letter to Democrat legislative leaders, Republican state senators asked Democrat leaders to support a special legislative session to eliminate the cuts that have put nine nursing homes at risk of closing, including Quinnipiac Valley Center (Genesis HealthCare) in Wallingford and the Arden House in Hamden.

The Republican senators said they want to work with Democrats to identify cuts and savings elsewhere in the budget to restore the $5.3 million in Medicaid funds, should Democrat legislative leaders commit to fixing this issue in a special session.

“We need more than words. We can and we must restore this funding. We would like to work together to do so. People need to come before partisanship and politics,” the Connecticut Senate Republicans wrote.

“This policy disregards the serious and traumatic consequences closures would have on vulnerable nursing home residents including persons with dementia. Such closures could potentially push people into a community that does not have the proper supports. To make matters worse, the state budget passed by Democrats also reduces funding for the Connecticut Home Care Program by $7 million annually, making it that much harder for seniors to access the entry point to successful aging in place. Therefore, the overall impact of your budget both hurts those receiving care in nursing homes, and makes it harder for people displaced by potential nursing home closures to successfully age in place.”

The Senate Republicans emphasized that while some Democrat lawmakers have recently spoken out against the Medicaid cuts, they also developed and approved the cuts, making their calls to delay implementation hypocritical.

“Multiple Democrat lawmakers have now expressed regret over their decision to cut this funding and have called for a delay or revising of the policy. We have seen letters from rank and file Democrat lawmakers, as well as from lawmakers who had a direct hand in crafting policy to cut Medicaid funding, negatively impacting seniors. Those calls ring hollow because the same majority party that crafted this policy could secure a special legislative session so that action can be taken and the budget can be fixed,” they wrote.