INDIANAPOLIS — Some Indiana nursing homes say they're facing a crisis that could affect thousands of older Hoosiers and their families.
Those facilities say they haven't been paid for weeks and are coming dangerously close to running out of money.
It centers around the state's transition to something called managed care.
A nursing home basically relies on Medicaid reimbursements to pay the bills and keep the lights on. Indiana's Family and Social Services Administration used to manage those reimbursements directly, but as of July 1, the state contracted that out to three different insurance companies. And since then, 13News has heard from senior care facilities who say they haven't gotten paid.
Jeff Huffman is part of a company that operates a handful of nursing homes across the state. He said fewer than 20% of their claims have been approved, and of those that have, they still haven't received a dime.
"The worst case scenario is the system doesn't work and we see some small organizations, some nursing homes, go out of business," Huffman said. "It can make a dire situation for residents who would have to move to another building and employees who would lose their jobs and have to find other employment. I'm hoping it's not that drastic."
Huffman said providers in Indiana had tried to delay or stop the changeover because the transition didn't go well in other states.
13News asked the FSSA about it. A spokesperson said the insurance companies have 21 days to pay a claim, so they have until Sunday, July 21.
But Huffman told 13News there's a one week deadline to approve or deny a claim, and since July 1, that deadline has already been missed several times, so he's not optimistic.