California incentivizes nursing homes to add staff with bonus Medicaid payments

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California is revamping how it rewards nursing homes to get them to improve patient care.

Rather than limit bonuses to top-performing facilities, the state will hand out additional Medicaid payments next year to nursing homes — even low-rated ones — that hire additional workers, reduce staff turnover, or improve quality of care. Facilities will be scored on their performance so facilities that do more will earn…