Costs are rising on everything from bread to education, and health care is no exception. With a $41 loss every time a nurse visits a Medicaid patient in the home, the urgent need for an increase in a state medical assistance reimbursement increase is clear, according to nurses and other homecare advocates visiting legislators today as part of Bayada Nurses Day in the state Capitol.

The cost of a nurse's visit to a homecare patient is about $118, but the Medicaid reimbursement rate is only set at $77. This means that home care agencies face great difficulty hiring and retaining skilled staff and remaining competitive for staff with others in the health care field. It also means that with the skyrocketing costs of fuel, worker compensation, and medical supplies there are significant budget shortfalls, forcing many agencies to cut back services.

"The role of home health care is expanding," said J. Mark Baiada, President and CEO of Bayada Nurses." From high-tech services for medically fragile children to services for the elderly to help them remain in their own homes, the need for home care is growing. Yet the shortage of nurses and other key staff, and stagnant reimbursement rates, threaten the availability of high-quality accessible services."