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Fiscal Committee approves transfer to cover nursing facility payments
Summary
The Fiscal Committee approved a transfer to cover nursing facility payments, citing federal match, county contributions and general funds; officials said the transfer completes work on this year’s required moves and does not indicate recurring future transfers.
The Fiscal Committee on June 20 approved a transfer to increase nursing facility payments, adopting item FIS 25 1 58.
The move, which Representative Edwards identified as a $5,000,000 transfer for nursing homes, was approved on a motion by Senator Blaisdell and seconded by Representative Wallner. The motion passed on a voice vote.
The request covers payments to both private and county nursing facilities and draws on a mix of federal matching dollars, county cap funds and remaining general funds, Nathan White, chief financial officer for Health and Human Services, told the committee. “This request is to move additional funds for the nursing facility payments,” White said, adding that this is the third transfer in state fiscal year 2025.
White described the transfers as the third and final transfer for the year and outlined the history: agency estimates from August 2022 had forecast roughly $281,000,000 for the budget line (class 504) used to pay nursing facilities; the actual expenditures for that year were about $242,000,000. With the approved transfer, projected expenses for the line are again about $281,000,000, White said.
White said the agency’s budget request for the class lines has remained steady through the budget process and, based on recent rate analysis and prior estimates, officials expect expenses to fall near the budgeted amount under current assumptions. “We expect to be right around the realm that is budgeted based on the assumptions that we see today,” he told the committee.
Representative Edwards asked whether this transfer reflected a structural shortfall or a one-time adjustment. White said the agency delayed earlier transfers to avoid moving more funds than necessary and that they do not expect similar high transfers going forward if assumptions hold.
The committee adopted the item without recorded roll-call votes.
Looking ahead, staff said the transfer completes the agency’s current-year adjustments for nursing facility payments but emphasized that projections depend on assumptions about rates, federal matches and county fund contributions.
