One of the major businesses in Albert Lea is nursing home care. The city has many seniors living in the area and care is needed in many cases. For these care facilities, there is a worry that they will have to make cuts because of the governor’s proposed budget, but how much and if are two questions yet to be answered.

“It’s got everybody wondering what the dollars and cents of the proposal will mean for their facility,” said Randall Parks, the administrator for Thorne Crest Retirement Center. “Attached to this is an already fragile long term health system. It’s just another problem coming down the line.”

Many in the industry agree that a grim picture has been painted for long term health care in Gov. Pawlenty’s budget proposal. His plan would make a 4 percent cut across the board for long term care. Nursing homes would also have the choice of cutting 15 percent of their beds instead of taking the cuts.

But in an industry that is growing with an aging baby boomer generation, some say there is little choice.

“For many parts of the state there are waiting lists for nursing homes,” Barbara Averill, director of public relations for the Minnesota Health and Housing Alliance, a lobbying association of nursing homes and health care providers.

Averill said the MHHA is hoping that the final budget plan will have no cut in rates from the state. She says the state can save funding money by reducing the cost of liability insurance and by making large regulatory reforms. The liability insurance costs have risen dramatically she said, so the cost of running a facility is high. She also said with regulations, there is a lot of time put in with paper work instead of care.

Averill said the governor’s current proposal puts nursing homes in a crunch. She thinks the industry can’t be treated like others.

“The easiest way to think about it is even if nursing homes cut funding, they aren’t able to cut care,” she said. “Care is 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can’t cut that. Really, the state needs to look at their legal and moral obligations to nursing homes.”

Legislators are positive that the final budget will have far less of an impact on nursing homes.

Sen. Dan Sparks, D-Austin, says he would like to look at ways to reform the health care system in the future, but says he wants to keep the current funding for senior care in this budget.

“We want to make sure we hold the nursing homes harmless,” Sparks said. “Without some sort of reform in the upcoming years we are just going to put more and more of a burden on them.”

Rep. Dan Dorman, R-Albert Lea, said he is working at finding ways the budget could keep senior care harmless.

“It’s an area that we need to try to make a good effort to try to find ways to not to cut back,” he said.

Dorman said he wants to propose reversing the state’s transit levy takeover from 2001. The takeover gave the state power to give tax relief for transit. Dorman said the takeover benefited suburbs.

“If we reduced that aid we could free up about $100 million,” he said. That money could be put into health care, he maintained.

Dorman said he believes, with some work, there will be no cut.

&uot;At the end of the day, I think we are going to find a way to get (the cuts) back to zero,” he said.

Another idea to offset the cuts proposed is to raise the state cigarette tax by $1. According to a survey by Minnesota American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), seven out of ten people surveyed said they would be supportive of a $1 raise over the current 48 cent cigarette tax, reported the Star Tribune.

Support seems to be on the side of maintaining strong health care, at least for Albert Lea legislators and citizens state-wide. But the final budget outcome will be its true test.