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Some Pennsylvania nursing homes may ask a judge to force the state Department of Public Welfare to surrender millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements that haven't increased in more than a year. The lack of quarterly increases, which are based on the number of Medicaid patients and the level of skilled care they require, is forcing nursing facilities to make some hard choices, said William Day, president of St. Barnabas Health System in Richland.

"Many are borrowing funds in order to keep meeting payrolls, buying medications and serving food," Day said.

Officials estimate that St. Barnabas Nursing Home and Valencia Woods Nursing Center are owed more than $500,000 from the past year. At those facilities, more than half of the patients -- 163 out of 231 -- receive Medicaid.

Mike Wilt, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of County Affiliated Homes, said the payment freeze affects every nursing home in the state.

Wilt said the organization will file a lawsuit this week unless a meeting Thursday with Public Welfare Secretary Estelle Richman, Budget Secretary Michael Masch and Gov. Ed Rendell's chief of staff, John Estey, resolves the issue.

The state froze reimbursements in April 2003 pending approval of Rendell's proposed provider assessment on nursing homes.

Revenue raised by the tax, which would charge nursing homes a fee based on bed capacity and revenue, would be matched by the federal government. Officials have estimated it could provide an additional $344 million in federal money for nursing homes.

The state had budgeted for the increases to be paid by money from the assessment, but the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have not yet approved the tax.

"We've been patient about this whole thing," Wilt said. "Once we got a new budget, we thought it would be easy for them to go back and pay the $144 million that's owed to facilities statewide. But as July wore into August, we realized we were running out of options."

Medicaid is the primary payer for about 70 percent of nursing home patients statewide, said Alan Rosenbloom, president of the Pennsylvania Health Care Association.

"Ultimately, the people who are most threatened by this are the people who are most in need of services," he said.

Kevin Cramsey, deputy press secretary for the Department of Public Welfare, said officials are aware of the difficulties nursing homes are facing and are working to resolve the rate freeze.

"What the state has been trying to do is maximize our federal portion and ultimately the amount of money generated to nursing homes," he said.

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