Weekly News Wrap-Up (February 15 - February 19)

States Spend More on Medicaid than Expected so far this Fiscal Year, Kaiser Report Finds (McKnight’s Long-Term Care News & Assisted Living, February 19, 2010) 
The economic downturn has negatively affected nearly every state budget and Medicaid program, according to a new report from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

Providers Flood Washington to Meet, Push Long-Term Care Agenda on Congress (McKnight’s Long-Term Care News & Assisted Living, February 19, 2010)
The American Association of Homes & Services for the Aging (AAHSA) will hold its annual spring meeting and congressional fly-in Monday through Wednesday in Washington.  Nonprofit facility owners and operators from around the country will lobby members of Congress in person and also take part in an exposition, a variety of educational sessions and a leadership summit.

Many Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals Deliver Poor Quality of Care, Newspaper Reports (McKnight’s Long-Term Care News & Assisted Living, February 16, 2010)
Long-term acute care hospitals have expanded rapidly in the last 25 years, but statistics show many of them provide substandard care, according to a recent article in The New York Times.