Minnesota lawmakers have a “moral imperative” to invest in the state’s long-term care system and workers, said Dr. Ann Vogel on Monday on her way to the Capitol.
The New Ulm physician organized a busload of providers from southwest Minnesota to head up to St. Paul to rally support for senior care. The trip came shortly into the 2023 legislative session, during which lawmakers will consider how to use a $17.6 billion surplus.
About $1 billion to $2 billion should go toward long-term care, Vogel said.
“The best outcome is that they say we’re going to prioritize this and we’ll take $1 billion or $2 billion and start paying certified nursing assistants and nurses taking care of these people a living wage,” she said.
Without the investments, she added, facilities will struggle to retain and recruit workers in a competitive job market. And fewer workers means providers struggle to meet the needs of older adults in need of care.
“We’re coming up here to whip up some information that these guys need to know, because this is a priority,” Vogel said.
The bus took off from New Ulm in the morning and stopped in St. Peter on its way to the Capitol. About 32 people were on board with plans to meet with senators, representatives and Gov. Tim Walz’s office.
The group was coordinating with LeadingAge Minnesota, an association of senior care providers. LeadingAge and Care Providers of Minnesota, another senior care provider association, partnered to form the Long-Term Care Imperative, which released a statement in the lead-up to the new session calling for surplus funds to “secure the safety net of care for older adults.”
Senior care staffing shortages were at a “crisis level” in late 2022, the groups stated.
“It’s the state’s responsibility to prioritize seniors and their caregivers with significant investment in senior care in the 2023 legislative session,” the statement read. “In the 2023 legislative session, we will seek approximately $1 billion to support caregiver wages, which is less than 6% of the budget surplus. An investment of this size is necessary to address the significance of our caregiver shortage in our state.”
Providers also hope the Legislature will address what they see as inadequate reimbursement rates for the care they provide. Two leaders at area memory care and assisted living facilities highlighted the issue in a letter to The Free Press in December.
Dustin Lee from Prairie Senior Cottages and Drew Hood from Oak Terrace Assisted Living wrote that the Legislature’s set Medicaid reimbursement rate hasn’t kept up with rising costs. Because it’s locked in at a low rate, they described it as “impossible to pay caregivers properly and hire new ones to meet growing demand.”
For nursing homes, they said it takes more than two years to be reimbursed for their costs of care. The wait is tough on many providers.
Hood on Monday said his hopes for investments and reimbursement reform at the state level are “pretty high” based on what’s heard so far.
“Maybe I’m overly optimistic because it seems like such a nonpartisan issue,” he said. “When I talk to Democrats and Republicans, both think we need to take care of our seniors.”
The issue is getting attention beyond state government. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar discussed workforce issues in senior care with Care Providers of Minnesota on Monday.
Unlike the federal government, Minnesota’s state government has one-party rule after the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party retained the House and governorship and flipped the Senate.
Rep. Jeff Brand, DFL-St. Peter, said he’s heard from constituents about the reimbursement issue and need for workforce investments. He suspects they’ll firmly be in the mix for surplus funding given the needs across the state.
“I’m all ears,” he said. “I see the governor as a very good partner at the Legislature so I’m hopeful that between the Senate, the House and the governor’s office we can get some of that stuff tackled.”