U.S. OKs increase in nursing home tax to bring in more Medicaid money

Excerpt from The Chicago Tribune: (click for entire article)

Federal authorities have approved a nursing home bed tax that will allow Illinois to collect more than $100 million a year in new Medicaid money that officials say will be used to boost facility staffing levels and implement other safety reforms mandated by a landmark 2010 overhaul, the Tribune has learned.

Gov. Pat Quinn, who is expected to announce the federal approval Tuesday, pushed hard for the tax as a way to hire more state inspectors and finance other reforms in Illinois' troubled long-term care system without dipping into the state's already-depleted coffers.