WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- A cost accounting system switch sparked a rise in Veterans Affairs' nursing home care spending from 2003 to 2005.
According to a report released Tuesday by the Government Accountability Office, the change was at least partly responsible for an increase in the Department of Veterans Affairs' nursing home care expenditures from $2.3 billion in fiscal 2003 to nearly $3.2 billion in 2005.
The report focused on VA's three nursing home care settings: VA-operated nursing homes, state veterans' nursing homes and community nursing homes.
The GAO said VA-operated nursing homes continued to account for the bulk of total VA nursing home care spending at 77 percent in fiscal 2005, compared to 73 percent in fiscal 2003.
On the other hand, nursing home care expenditures for state veterans' sites dropped from 15 percent to 12 percent of total VA nursing home spending in the same time period, while spending for community nursing homes declined from 12 percent to 11 percent, the report said.
In addition, the GAO's study found that VA's overall patient workload in nursing homes rose to an average of 34,375 patients per day by fiscal 2005, representing a 3.5-percent increase over the fiscal 2003 workload.
