On April 29, 2025, Susan Wallace was invited to join a state operating budget panel discussion focused on skilled nursing facilities before the Ohio Senate Medicaid Committee. Susan was joined on the panel by representatives from the Ohio Health Care Association and the Academy of Senior Health Sciences. Susan’s presentation focused on performance improvements as a result of the quality incentive payment; the transition to PDPM and the proposal to update the case mix adjustment to a blended model; and updating the capital portion of the reimbursement formula to incentivize environmental quality. Wallace fielded questions from the committee regarding the PDPM blend, noting that incorporating speech / language pathology helped to account for the higher costs of individuals with dementia. Chair Romanchuk requested examples from other states on how they structure dementia add-on payments.
Wallace will be testifying on LeadingAge Ohio’s other budget priorities before the Senate Health Committee on May 13.