LOW FUNDING HAS CREATED A LONG-TERM CARE CRISIS!
Direct new investments
towards frontline caregivers so that we preserve quality of care!
SEIU POSITION: Increase state funding for long-term care
reimbursement rates by 5% in the next fiscal year. The new resources must be directed to caregivers
so that facilities can improve the quality of care they provide to Minnesota’s sick,
elderly and disabled adults.
BACKGROUND: For the past five years, long-term care workers
have struggled to maintain an adequate level of care for residents and clients
despite flat or minimal funding increases (0% in FY04, 0% in FY05, 2.26% in FY06,
and 2.25% in FY07). As the industry
faces this financial crisis, it has begun to cut into the most important element
of quality care – front-line caregivers.
Low pay, unaffordable health insurance, and high rates of workplace
injury all lead to high rates of employee burn out and turnover throughout the
industry. Not only do workers in nursing
homes suffer the impact of inadequate funding, but so do their residents and
consumers, who are the elderly, disabled and sick members of our society. Inadequate funding means fewer staff working
longer hours for less pay.
STATUS:
Current law calls for no across-the-board COLA
increase in FY09. Instead, money
was set aside to begin a process of bringing nursing home rates up to date with
actual costs. This is called “rebasing.”
Unfortunately, the money set aside wouldn’t even buy a 2% increase if it were
spread across all homes, and worse, the rebasing formula leaves some homes with
no increase at all. Until a good formula
is developed, money should be dedicated to COLAs.
ACTION: SUPPORT SF3353
/ HF3400 FOR LONG-TERM CARE WORKERS.
Instead of going forward with a flawed rebalancing process, we say
delay the process for a year to give stakeholders a year to put a better plan
together. The FY09 funding increase of
1.87% should be a straight across-the-board COLA funding increase. In addition, we propose that the COLA be increased
by 3.13% to produce a total 5% COLA rate increase in the coming year. Finally, the legislature should continue its
policy of directing 75% of the new money to hands on staff and giving workers
the information and leverage (e.g. union sign-off clauses) to ensure that the
dollars targeted to workers actually go to workers.