Contact Your Lawmaker Today to Protect Access to Senior Care Services
Minnesota Nursing Home Proposed Rule Comment Window Closed
Last week, the MN Department of Labor closed a 30-day comment window to provide feedback on a proposed labor standard that would require nursing homes to pay workers specific minimum wages according to their job type.
Thank you to our care center members who shared how this unfunded mandate will impact access to care for older adults across Minnesota. Our analysis indicates that the state received feedback from nearly two-thirds of all nursing homes in the state, in addition to comments by LeadingAge MN and the Long-Term Care Imperative.
State Has a Responsibility to Act
Now our attention must turn to our elected officials. Governor Walz can either finalize these proposed rules or send them back to the Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board to be amended. It is paramount that he and members of the Legislature hear from providers across all setting types. There is nothing in this proposal that guarantees funding for these wages. To make matters worse, there is little recourse for providers and employees in other settings like campus settings, assisted living communities or adult day services, who cannot afford to match these wages. There is no doubt: finalizing this rule—without upfront funding from the Legislature—will adversely harm Minnesota seniors’ access to quality care.
Take Action Now!
The State of Minnesota has accepted the responsibility to ensure that Minnesota seniors have access to nursing home level of care in their home communities through participation in the federal Medicaid program. Therefore, it is the State Legislature’s job to ensure that rates paid to nursing homes through that program cover the cost of care. Absent taking that responsibility, these rules cannot move forward.
Take action today to express your concerns!
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