New Jersey Budget Proposal to Increase Medicaid Bonuses for Nursing Facilities

Enhanced incentives aim to promote quality staffing and care in the state’s nursing homes.

TRENTON, NJ – The proposed Fiscal Year 2025 budget by the New Jersey government plans to substantially increase Medicaid bonus payments for nursing facilities that achieve set performance goals. This revision is part of an update to the Quality Incentive Payment Program (QIPP), which will now offer up to $23.25 per resident per day, up from the previous maximum of $12.60, for facilities that meet higher standards of nursing care and staff retention.

The budget proposal introduces three new metrics to evaluate facility performance: total nurse staffing hours, nurse staffing retention, and management of inappropriate weight loss in residents. Facilities providing at least 4.1 hours of nursing care per resident per day will qualify for the highest bonus payments, with additional rewards for meeting or exceeding a state average of 3.8 hours.

This initiative, as detailed by the Department of Human Services, follows consultations with industry experts, consumer advocates, and health policy specialists, aiming to refine incentives for improving care quality. Performance evaluations will utilize federal data adjusted for the level of care required by each resident.

Initiated in 2018, QIPP represents a collaborative effort between the Division of Aging Services and the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, which oversees NJ FamilyCare, New Jersey’s Medicaid program. The program has been adjusted over the years to introduce stricter benchmarks and to exclude facilities with poor quality indicators from receiving bonus payments.

This proposed budget aims to bolster the quality and effectiveness of nursing care across New Jersey by incentivizing facilities to enhance their staffing and care practices.