Nursing home bed tax on the way out: Governor signs repeal

OLYMPIA – An unpopular tax on nursing home patients will be eliminated four years sooner than scheduled, thanks to legislation signed today by Gov. Chris Gregoire.

The tax was a longtime target of Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, whose Senate Bill 6368 repeals the tax as of July 1, 2007.

“The bed tax was a bad idea from the start,” Haugen said. “The tax has hurt nursing homes instead of helping them, and it’s been a terrible disservice to our seniors.”

Haugen tried to repeal the tax last year, but her bill was amended at the last minute to allow a slow phase-out of the tax by 2011. This year she won support for eliminating the tax next year.

Monica Mattson, administrator of the Josephine Sunset Home in Stanwood, said the tax has forced unanticipated costs on patients who saved carefully for their retirement. In many cases, Mattson said, the impact extends beyond the patients themselves to the finances of other family members.

The tax currently adds about $150 a month to the cost of a bed and is covered by Medicaid and by Medicare. However, patients not on Medicaid or Medicare must pay the tax directly. The tax was levied in 2003 at $6.50 per day. Haugen’s bill last year began shrinking the tax to its current rate of $5.25 per day.

“This tax was originally enacted in 2003, and along came Senator Haugen, who has been fighting for our seniors from the beginning,” said Governor Gregoire. “This action has been long-awaited.”

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