Front-line Caregivers, Nursing Home Residents and Their Family Members Gather to Sign Petition Urging New Mexico Congressional Delegation to Stop Potential Cuts

National, State Long Term Care Leaders Hold News Briefing

RIO RANCHO, N.M., Aug. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A national coalition of frontline nursing home caregivers will join with local Rio Rancho nursing home residents and their family members to sign a petition that will be delivered to members of the New Mexico congressional delegation. Caregivers and families are urging New Mexico legislators to stop severe Medicare cuts included in the U.S. House of Representatives healthcare reform legislation due for a vote following Congress' summer recess. With 50 percent of New Mexico's nursing homes located in rural areas, front-line caregivers and state long-term care representatives will hold a news conference to warn that these cuts, $130.2 million to New Mexico alone, would especially harm patient-care programs and ongoing clinical quality improvements affecting New Mexico's rural seniors, as well as the jobs and employment base of the state's rural communities. A new economic analysis indicates long-term care labor income in New Mexico could suffer a $4 million loss should the proposed Medicare cuts take effect.

The Coalition to Protect Senior Care (CPSC) -- a national coalition of health care assistants, long term care nurses, certified nursing assistants and others who deliver round-the-clock, front-line care to seniors -- and caregivers at area SNFs will discuss how the Medicare cuts would disproportionately impact New Mexico's rural seniors, its caregiver community, and others.

WHEN: Thursday, August 13, 2009

10:00 a.m. MST

WHERE: Rio Rancho Care and Rehabilitation Center

4210 Sabana Grande

Rio Ranch, NM 87124

WHO: Lisa Cantrell, President, National Association of Health Care Assistants

Linda Sechovec, Executive Director, New Mexico Health Care Association

Representative Jane E. Powdrell-Culbert - (R), District 44, Sandoval County, whose father currently resides at Rio Rancho Care & Rehabilitation Center

Barbara Frescas, Certified Nurse Assistant

Resident of Rio Rancho

Among the Coalition to Protect Senior Care membership are:

American Association for Long Term Care Nursing (AALTCN) - Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care - American College of Health Care Administrators (ACHCA) - American Health Care Association (AHCA) - American Health Quality Association (AHQA) - American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) - American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) - American Society of Health Care Administration Executives (ASHCAE) - Coalition of Women in Long Term Care (COWL) * National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA)- National Association for the Support of Long Term Care (NASL) - National Rural Health Association - Senior Clinician Group

SOURCE Coalition to Protect Senior Care CONTACT:Lisa Cantrell, +1-417-623-6049, for Coalition to Protect Senior Care http://www.prnewswire.com