NJ Taking Back Some Of The Funds It Gave Several Nursing Homes: Report

NEW JERSEY — The approximately 1 in 7 nursing home operators who received a 10% boost in Medicaid funding to, in part, provide raises to certified nursing assistants who did not use the money for that intended purpose will have that money taken back, nj.com reported.

There were 366 nursing facilities that received funding increases stemming from A4745, a bill that Gov. Murphy signed into law in 2021.

The law required the operators of those facilities to show that 60% of the funding increase went to raises for the certified nursing assistants, according a press release.

Certified nursing assistants are those workers who monitor the health status of patients as well as help in the feeding, bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting and/or moving of patients in a health or nursing facility, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The remaining 40% of the increase was to be allocated to infection control measures and other COVID-19 pandemic-related costs, according to the press release.

Of those that received the funding, 52 used some but not all of the amount as the law mandated and 8 did not provide the required data to the New Jersey Department of Human Services, nj.com said. These are the facilities that may have the funding taken back, nj.com continued.

Patch was unable to obtain a list of those nursing home operators who were not in compliant with the law prior to this story's posting.

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