While several budget strapped state legislatures slashed Medicaid funding to skilled nursing facilities this spring and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) further reduced Medicare funding to SNFs by 11 % effective October 2011, the Coalition to Protect Senior Care (CPSC) continues to bring the voice of the long term caregiver and elderly resident straight to policymakers by organizing petition signing press conferences in states across the country from New York to Washington. The CPSC has been successful in garnering media coverage that focuses on potential job loss of key frontline caregivers that will compromise the quality of care delivered to frail seniors.

Now the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction is debating further Medicare funding cuts while news reports are already surfacing of long term care staff layoffs in our nation's small towns and rural regions.

While the coalition recognizes the need to reduce the nation's deficit, it is imperative that lawmakers understand the direct and dangerous impact further funding cuts will have on the ability of skilled nursing facilities to retain the essential staff needed to appropriately care for America's seniors. Long term care has taken repeated hits in funding cuts, including a Medicare regulation cutting Medicare-funded nursing home care by $12 billion over ten years effective October 2009 and additional Medicare cuts of $14.6 billion over ten years passed in the final health care reform legislation. That on top of Medicaid cuts enacted in several states and the most recent CMS reduction is cause for deep concern. Federal government actions should not jeopardize the quality of care for the elderly and trigger massive job loss of dedicated caregivers who live and work and pay taxes in America's communities.

Now, from coast to coast, front-line caregivers and staff, residents and family members once again are signing petitions to their state Congressional delegation asking them and the "Super Committee" members to protect Medicare funding for America's elderly and preserve caregiver jobs.

A listing of states where CPSC had held events or are underway:
Blacksburg, VA
Glenville, WV
Salem, WV
Yakima, WA
Malakoff, TX
Plymouth, MA
Milford, MA
Fishkill, NY
Powers, MI
Colorado Springs, CO
Storm Lake, IA
Beachwood, OH
Florence, SC
OK City, OK
Trenton, NJ
Sun City, AZ
Phoenix, AZ
Tampa, FL
Miami, FL
Macon, GA