An audit reveals significant rate increases at one of the state homes for veterans, and a state lawmaker says the facilities will require closer scrutiny. “I think the audit report simply confirms what we have known, that there are problems with how the veterans homes have been operated in the past,” says Department of Veterans Affairs public affairs officer Sara Stinski. “We’re continuing to work to identify and correct these problems.”
The Legislative Audit Bureau found that daily private pay rates for veterans at Union Grove’s skilled nursing facility who do not qualify for Medical Assistance or Medicare funding increased by 45.8 percent, while private pay rates in Union Grove’s assisted living facilities increased by as much as 58.6 percent for veterans and 284.6 percent for spouses living with veterans. Still, Stinski says the report makes clear that the increases were “absolutely necessary,” and that the rates at Union Grove are “not astronomical by any stretch of the imagination.”
Stinski says the Veterans Affairs Board, which has undergone extensive personnel changes over the past several months, is making significant progress toward correcting problems at Union Grove. Representative Peter Barca, co-chair of the legislature’s Joint Audit Committee, sees a big concern in the audit. “Long term, our current operations are not sustainable,” says the Kenosha Democrat. “Our veterans needs and deserve to have a solid facility for their long term care needs.”
Will regular rate hikes be needed to keep the homes open? “We hope not,” says Barca. “Obviously you have to run your operations as efficiently as you can.” He notes that the rate increases at Union Grove apparently led to some veterans deciding to leave. “Of course when people leave the facility, then it’s harder to make the numbers work,” says Barca. “It’s absolutely essential that the Board of Veterans Affairs take some leadership, set some strong policies, and hold people accountable.”
WDVA’s Stinski says the audit will be useful. “You have to read it about four times to really start to understand it. It’s complex information that they provide, but I think they did a good job laying out the complete context. They went back a number of years . . . because the problem really stems from the way things were done a number of years ago.”