BEAVER, Utah — Through a little-known federal funding stream, Utah nursing homes owned by cities or counties are eligible for additional taxpayer dollars meant to improve the quality of care for the elderly and disabled residents who live or stay there.

It all adds up to big money. Over the last decade, state records show nursing homes participating in the Upper Payment Limit program have received $1 billion in federal funds they wouldn’t have otherwise had access to.

But despite all that extra money, a new analysis of publicly available federal data — commissioned by a local law firm — found that, since 2017, the quality of care at these facilities has been worse than at nursing homes that aren’t getting all that extra money – with lower overall ratings and staffing scores and worse

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