Jesse Scheckner
House and Senate lawmakers aren’t yet seeing eye-to-eye on an earmark for nursing home improvement dollars in the 2025-26 budget.
At the moment, they’re $62.75 million apart.
That’s the total the Senate is offering to set aside for Florida’s annual nursing home reimbursement rate adjustment — $26.85 million in nonrecurring general revenue funds and $35.9 million in federal trust fund cash.
The House’s proposal, for now? Nothing.
Florida’s yearly adjustments to its Medicaid reimbursement rates for nursing homes is part of the state’s ongoing strategy to bolster the financial stability of long-term care facilities and enhance their residents’ quality of care.
While the sum the Senate is proposing this year seems high, it’s roughly a quarter the increase Florida enacted in 2023, which amounted to about $470,000 per facility.
The state also increased the Quality Incentive Program Payment Pool that year from 6% to 9% of non-property-related payments, a change meant to reward facilities that meet certain quality benchmarks and encourage improvements in patient care.
Further, the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) increased Medicaid reimbursement rates for private duty nursing services in 2024 by 7.19%. The adjustment raised the hourly rate for registered nurse services from $30.07 to $32.23 and for licensed practical nurse services from $26.25 to $28.14.
There are 691 licensed nursing homes in Florida with close to 84,500 beds and an occupancy of about 85%, accommodating some 71,000 residents at any given time, according to AHCA. Florida also has 3,080 assisted living facilities with more than 106,000 beds.
Long-term care is a significant contributor to the state economy, supporting some 286,000 jobs and making an estimated $27 billion impact annually, the Florida Health Care Association found.
The House will next make an offer to the Senate as part of the back-and-forth budgeting process.
