ANACORTES, Wash. — An Anacortes assisted living facility is struggling financially and the owner says his troubles are a sign of things to come for facilities that care for people on Medicaid.
KING 5 reports that most of San Juan Assisted Living’s 44 residents are on Medicaid, which owner Jim Roe says is reimbursing him at 2016 rates.
“[It’s] hurting the poorest of the poor residents [and] hurting the high Medicaid facilities the most. While that’s not their intention, that’s exactly what’s happening,” he says.
For Roe, wages and other costs have gone up and he’s losing $60,000 a month.
And the coming “silver tsunami” of retirees will only make things worse.
“It’s really ‘arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic’ at this point, and the closures are going to accelerate,” he says.
But the Assistant Secretary for the Washington State Department of Health and Human Services’ Aging and Long-Term Support Administration tells KING that reimbursements for assisted living facilities are up 7% in the new state budget and should keep homes like San Juan open.