Bureaucratic Policy Making on Trial: Medicaid Nursing Facility Reimbursement, 1988-1998

Abstract

Few systematically assess the determinants of Medicaid nursing facility reimbursement. Consequently, this article examines what factors influence program administrators'decisions regarding nursing facility cost report data-the basic information states use to establish payment. Whereas elected officials focus primarily on how much is spent on nursing homes, state Medicaid officials assume primary responsibility for the esoteric and highly technical dimensions that help make spending goals a reality. Findings indicate that the federal government influenced state policy by enabling provider litigation under the Boren Amendment. They also indicate that program administrators responded rationally to fiscal and economic concerns, and that states with stronger administrative capacity were better able to overcome obstacles to sustaining desired policies. Although results reveal that states with more powerful nursing home lobbies tended to implement more generous systems, they fail to reveal significant associations between cost report year and lobbying activity on behalf of the elderly.