Ain't this a shame? Sounds like a backlash to the new Health Care Bill: http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=0,110931

State budget cuts in South Dakota could not only have a big impact on schools, but also local nursing homes. The South Dakota Health Care Association says 500 nursing home workers in the state would lose their jobs if Governor Dennis Daugaard's proposed 10 percent cut to Medicaid passes.

Bethany Lutheran Home in Sioux Falls prides itself on its quality employees.

"Our residents come first but our staff come second, and we've got lots of long-term employees who have dedicated their life to caregiving and working here," Bethany Lutheran Home Administrator Dennis Sever said.

But, if Governor Dennis Daugaard's proposed cut to Medicaid goes through Bethany Lutheran Home will have to cut out $200,000 from its budget. Sever says decisions those would be tough because there's not a lot of fluff in his budget.

"It's hard for us to say unilaterally that we can take ten percent away from salaries, or lay people off, or take their jobs, or any of that kind of stuff," Sever said.

The South Dakota Health Care Association says the proposed budget would mean the loss of 500 nursing home jobs across the state, and it would be especially tough on those in the state's smallest towns.

"Some of those communities, the nursing home is the only employer in those communities and they are already struggling," Sever said.

And that's why the budget South Dakota lawmakers are considering has many across the state hoping for a solution to keep nursing homes from losing hundreds of jobs.

"I understand the governor doesn't want to do a one-time fix, or to face this problem every year, but I do believe that there's ways to do that without cutting our care and cutting jobs at the nursing homes," Sever said.

So how would the state's nursing homes be spared from the cut? Officials say the state could use $12 million in earnings from a state health care trust fund to fill the gap. Or, the South Dakota Health Care Association says their poll results show that a majority of South Dakotans would support a one penny sales tax increase to fund nursing homes and schools across the state.

Discuss this story here: http://www.ultimatenurse.com/forum/f...79/#post134827