Older adults and people living with disabilities are increasingly unable to have their basic needs met. Many cannot depend on getting three meals a day, getting to the bathroom on time, having a regular bath or shower, or getting out of their beds in the morning. Even when they are enrolled with home care agencies or living in a nursing facility, staff shortages imperil their care.
Lawmakers guaranteed more than $760 million in their budget to boost wages and benefits for home care service providers. That means Washington state caregivers will get wage increases of at least 10%. Veronica Tausili is a caregiver for her mother who traveled Olympia with her union - the Service Employees International Union 775 - to push for the wage increases. She said experienced at-home caregivers will earn more than $25 an hour by the end of their contract and, importantly, caregiver wages will start at $21 an hour - helping recruit and retain them.
Advocates for the elderly and people with disabilities are looking to the state budget now taking shape in the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee to boost pay for personal care workers in Wisconsin. Wisconsin has a series of programs that use Medicaid dollars to help people who likely would otherwise have to live in a nursing home remain in the community, living on their own or with parents or other relatives. Managed care organizations coordinate services delivered through Family Care and allied programs.
One bill backed by resident advocates would require a significant portion of Medicaid money be spent directly on resident care. Another bill largely backed by industry groups would redefine rules governing the long-term care ombudsman’s office, which advocates for resident rights. Senate Bill 1629, by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, would “improve nursing care by increasing transparency and accountability for nursing homes participating in the Medicaid program,” according to a statement by Kolkhorst in a Senate Research Center analysis. Kolkhorst chairs the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
The conference committee report passed on a vote of 70-61. This bill establishes the Minnesota Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board and requires the board to establish minimum nursing home employment standards for nursing home workers, certify worker organizations to provide training to nursing home workers, and establish curriculum requirements for training. Initial standards for wages and working hours must be established by Aug. 1, 2024.
Most states have nursing home inspection backlogs largely because federal oversight funding has stalled. State inspectors are on the frontline of protecting the quality of care for and the rights of more than 1 million Americans who live in nursing homes, either because of aging, illness or disability, or who have short-term stays for rehabilitation. The report from the U.S. Senate Committee on Aging found 31 states and the District of Columbia had inspection staff vacancy rates above 20% on average; nine were short staffed by half or more. The highest rates were in Kentucky (83%), Alabama (80%) and Idaho (71%).