Sununu Praised for Helping Lead Senate Effort to Stop Bush Medicare Cuts from Going...

Sununu Praised for Helping Lead Senate Effort to Stop Bush Medicare Cuts from
Going into Effect

NH Senator Leads Successful Bipartisan Effort in Congress to Stop $3.8 Million
State Medicare Cut

CONCORD, N.H., July 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- State and national long term
care leaders today praised New Hampshire Senator John Sununu for helping to
lead a successful, bipartisan effort in Congress to stop the Bush
Administration from moving forward with a Medicare regulation that would have
cut Medicare-funded nursing home care by $5 billion over the next five years
and $770 million in fiscal year 2009. Senator Sununu's action ensures New
Hampshire seniors will be protected from cuts of $3.8 million in the year
ahead.

"The Bush Administration's planned Medicare cuts not only threatened New
Hampshire seniors' access to quality health care throughout our state, but
would have also negatively impacted our state and local economy," stated John
Poirier, President of the New Hampshire Health Care Association (NHHCA).
"Senator Sununu's effort in Washington to protect his most vulnerable
constituents reflects the independent thinking and action New Hampshire needs,
deserves and appreciates."

"The bottom-line news from today's announcement is that New Hampshire's
Medicare beneficiaries are deservedly the big winners," stated Bruce Yarwood,
President and CEO of the American Health Care Association (AHCA), in
Washington, D.C. "Thanks to Senator Sununu, New Hampshire seniors will retain
ready access to the high quality care they need and deserve."

Alan G. Rosenbloom, President of the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care,
stated, "From a policy standpoint, this is an outstanding development in terms
of both meeting seniors' changing health care needs, and doing so in a manner
that uses Medicare funds efficiently. Senator Sununu deserves enormous credit
for working in an intelligent, collegial, bipartisan manner to help achieve
today's positive results."

Poirier also noted that Medicare cuts from Washington would have had a
severely negative impact on the strength and viability of New Hampshire's
Medicaid program. "Because nursing homes rely on Medicare to make up for
chronic underfunding by the Medicaid program - an average of $13 per day for
every Medicaid beneficiary in nursing homes nationwide - it was critically
important to ensure Medicare reimbursements remain steady and consistent,"
Poirier concluded.

SOURCE American Health Care Association

Katherine Lehman of the American Health Care Association, +1-202-898-2816