Gov. Malloy Announces $3 Million in Nursing Home 'Rebalancing' Grants

Press Release

Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced that his administration is continuing to help the state's nursing home industry adapt to the changing needs of older adults and citizens with disabilities through a second round of business diversification funding.

About $3 million in new grants are part of Connecticut's Strategic Plan to Rebalance Long-Term Services and Supports, a ground-breaking initiative announced by Governor Malloy in 2013 to foster long-term service options for people who can live safely in the community instead of an institution.

"At the heart of this effort is, quite simply, a desire to give our citizens more options and choices about where they live," Governor Malloy said. "In Connecticut and nationally, the overall trend is for aging adults and younger adults with disabilities to live in their own home with the help of quality and cost-effective services. Our initiative is aimed at maximizing these opportunities for enhanced quality of life, while also achieving Medicaid savings for taxpayers."

Part of Connecticut's strategy involves helping skilled nursing facilities adapt to the growing demand for home- and community-based services and supports. In the second of three projected rounds of funding to help nursing homes diversify service delivery models, four proposals ranging from $60,000 to $2.25 million were selected through a competitive procurement process.

"Skilled nursing facilities remain a critical part of our long-term care system, just as they are vital for shorter-term rehabilitation and related health care needs," said Department of Social Services Commissioner Roderick L. Bremby. "However, with the overall demand for this level of services gradually dropping, we need to encourage and support the industry in developing alternative business models.

Grant applicants are required to either reduce nursing home beds and/or increase discharges from hospitals to the community, rather than to nursing homes.

Proposals in Hartford, Shelton and Canton were awarded 'pre-development' funds to support planning for projects involving construction of housing or community centers. A proposal in New Haven was awarded funds for the development of a new community service model.

This is the second round of awards following requests for proposals issued by the Department of Social Services, in conjunction with the Departments of Housing and Public Health. The first round of $9 million was announced by the Governor in March 2014.

The next request for proposals is anticipated to be issued this fall, with expected total funding of up to $25 million in federal and state funds supporting the initiative.

Connecticut's Strategic Plan to Rebalance Long-Term Services and Supports includes the nation's first town-by-town projection of a state's long-term care needs and strategies to meet those needs. These data provide the framework for rebalancing initiatives, including funding for skilled nursing facility diversification.

Medicaid continues to fund more than $1.6 billion in institutional care alone in Connecticut, yet nursing facilities continue to see less demand for their services in Connecticut and elsewhere. The number of licensed beds has been reduced by about 900 since January 2011, as resident censuses decline across the state.

The strategic rebalancing initiative includes a coordinated approach to reducing institutionalized beds where projections indicate that they will not be needed, and ensuring that nursing facilities diversify their services to participate in prevailing, less costly home- and community-based care trends.

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