Feds pull Medicaid funding from Fort Worth nursing home. What’s next for its residents?
The federal government will no longer pay a Fort Worth nursing home to care for adults who need long-term nursing or rehabilitative care, according to a notice from the federal government.
Remarkable Healthcare of Fort Worth, at 6649 N. Riverside Drive, is expected to close April 18 after being booted from the Medicaid and Medicare programs, according to a spokesperson for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. About 80 residents who live there are scrambling to find new homes before the facility shuts its doors.
Residents at the nursing home were informed of the news Wednesday, when they were told by nursing home co-owner Jon McPike that the state of Texas had mandated the shutdown, said resident Nona Taggart.
Jennifer Ruffcorn, a spokesperson for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, said in an emailed statement that the nursing facility was not closed by by the state.
“HHSC did not mandate this closure,” Ruffcorn said in an email. “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is terminating the facility’s contract due to its poor record of survey/inspection performance. This means the facility can no longer receive federal funding.”
McPike did not immediately respond to a phone call asking for comment.
In a notice to the public posted April 3, CMS said that starting on April 18, the agency would terminate its agreement with Remarkable Healthcare of Fort Worth. For residents who have been living at Remarkable before March 2, CMS will continue to pay for their care for up to 30 days after the contract ends on April 18. The majority of nursing home residents receive long-term care through Medicaid, the joint state and federal health insurance program that provides benefits not always covered by Medicare.
“We won’t be homeless technically, but realistically this is our home,” said Taggart, who has lived at Remarkable for more than seven years.
Taggart said she knew the nursing home had issues, but that she considers her fellow residents and the staff to be her family and was upset that they had to relocate so quickly.
The nursing home has been on the federal government’s watch list for months. Last year, it was named a Special Focus Facility by CMS, considered a last-ditch effort to encourage troubled nursing homes to improve their safety and quality or else be terminated from the program.
The nursing facility is one of four owned or operated by companies linked to Laurie Beth and Jon McPike of Southlake. The parent company that operates all four nursing homes filed for bankruptcy last month.
