MONROE - The Green County Finance Committee this week pushed off a decision to next month's meeting on a potential referendum to bolster funding for the county's cash-strapped nursing home.
Before the committee can recommend it to the full county board for approval next month, the wording of the referendum - as it would appear on the ballot next April - needs to be crafted and approved by the county corporation counsel, Brian Bucholtz.
Pleasant View Nursing Home is losing $52 per day for each Medicaid patient it has because the state does not fully reimburse the facility with the federal funding it receives for this purpose, according to director Terry Hensel.
By law, county-funded facilities must take any Medicaid-funded patient it can medically serve. Private nursing homes can refuse Medicaid patients.
She also shared data with the finance committee that the bed tax for the 130-bed nursing home has increased more than fivefold in the past 10 years, and more than doubled in the past four years alone, from $32 per bed in 2003 to $170 per bed starting in 2011.
She's asking the finance committee to recommend a referendum for an extra $790,000 annually for five years.
Voters passed a similar referendum in 2009 for $890,000 extra funding annually to Pleasant View, through 2014.
The finance committee took no action at its meeting Tuesday, Nov. 5, but members spoke in favor of the referendum as proposed. Two finance committee members, Sue Disch and Dennis Everson, are also on the county committee that oversees Pleasant View.
Jerry Guth said he had hoped to see the need for money lessen after the last referendum, but with the bed tax exploding since then and Medicaid patients continuing to drain the facility, the need continues.
Before the last referendum, the county was covering at least $400,000 to $600,000 annually out of its general fund to help the facility along, according to Harvey Mandel, finance committee chair.
That helped cover essentials, but costly repairs and upkeep projects were postponed, Everson said. Now the urgency of those projects is catching up with Pleasant View, which has been operating for years at a deficit, even with the county's help and the last referendum.
If the new referendum doesn't pass, "there would have to be some significant cuts elsewhere" in the county budget, said County Clerk Mike Doyle, who sat in on the meeting.
Before the committee can recommend it to the full county board for approval next month, the wording of the referendum - as it would appear on the ballot next April - needs to be crafted and approved by the county corporation counsel, Brian Bucholtz.
Pleasant View Nursing Home is losing $52 per day for each Medicaid patient it has because the state does not fully reimburse the facility with the federal funding it receives for this purpose, according to director Terry Hensel.
By law, county-funded facilities must take any Medicaid-funded patient it can medically serve. Private nursing homes can refuse Medicaid patients.
She also shared data with the finance committee that the bed tax for the 130-bed nursing home has increased more than fivefold in the past 10 years, and more than doubled in the past four years alone, from $32 per bed in 2003 to $170 per bed starting in 2011.
She's asking the finance committee to recommend a referendum for an extra $790,000 annually for five years.
Voters passed a similar referendum in 2009 for $890,000 extra funding annually to Pleasant View, through 2014.
The finance committee took no action at its meeting Tuesday, Nov. 5, but members spoke in favor of the referendum as proposed. Two finance committee members, Sue Disch and Dennis Everson, are also on the county committee that oversees Pleasant View.
Jerry Guth said he had hoped to see the need for money lessen after the last referendum, but with the bed tax exploding since then and Medicaid patients continuing to drain the facility, the need continues.
Before the last referendum, the county was covering at least $400,000 to $600,000 annually out of its general fund to help the facility along, according to Harvey Mandel, finance committee chair.
That helped cover essentials, but costly repairs and upkeep projects were postponed, Everson said. Now the urgency of those projects is catching up with Pleasant View, which has been operating for years at a deficit, even with the county's help and the last referendum.
If the new referendum doesn't pass, "there would have to be some significant cuts elsewhere" in the county budget, said County Clerk Mike Doyle, who sat in on the meeting.