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* We’ve all heard about the shortage of nursing home workers. Capitol News Illinois has a story about a hearing yesterday on the topic. This quote stood out for me…
Angela Schnepf, executive vice president of LeadingAge Illinois, an association of nonprofit aging service providers, said the policy changes DHFS recommend are long overdue and should have been part of the plan when Illinois first adopted its nursing home assessment in 2011.
“As many of you know, 10 years ago, the General Assembly by a thin margin passed the bed tax for a $105 million increase to support the staffing ratios passed in the spring of 2010,” she said. “The rate increase funded the status quo with an assumption that understaffed nursing homes would apply the money to increase their number of staff. One would have thought this made sense. However, the data shows that did not happen.”
Schnepf went on to say that a survey of nursing homes just before the pandemic showed that the 120 facilities with the lowest staffing levels had actually reduced their staffing hours per resident day by 5.8 percent since 2010, the year before the assessment went into effect, while the statewide average for all nursing homes in the state increased 4.5 percent.
“As you may or may not know, LeadingAge Illinois opposed the bed tax in 2011 because we anticipated the tax would shift money from well-staffed nursing homes to the pockets of owners of understaffed nursing homes because of the zero requirement of accountability to apply the new money to increasing their staff,” she said. “As a result, over 40 percent of Illinois nursing homes were losers or lost money, and over 60 percent of our LeadingAge Illinois members were losers. That means good providers bore the tax burden to fund the failed attempt to increase staffing in understaffed nursing homes, all to no avail.”
The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services report is here.
* Related…
* Officials address nursing home payment model, staffing shortages
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 9:37 am
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I wasn’t aware we treat / tax / assess for-profit and non-profit nursing homes the same way. That should change. We should encourage non-profit nursing homes as (by definition) more of the money will flow to staff than for-profits.
Comment by Dan Johnson Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 9:59 am
== assumption that understaffed nursing homes would apply the money to increase their number of staff==
Will we never learn?
Without enforcement, any laws are only suggestions, which are usually ignored.
Comment by Bruce( no not him) Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 10:05 am
That extra money was needed to be shoveled back into political contributions for General Assembly members and profits for nursing home owners.
Improve patient care or worker wages? That’s crazy talk.
Comment by Moe Berg Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 10:15 am
will this impact the ARPA funds that have been appropriated to the nursing homes? there appear to be staffing shortages throughout the health care industry. all funds dedicated to the nursing homes should be frozen and reallocated to other provider groups who are actually taking steps to address staffing shortages, and who would use these funds to assist in that effort.
Comment by moving forward Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 1:05 pm
From the local perspective the closing of St. Josephs is a huge loss to this community. the impact on all involved is very significant economically and the disruption in these folks lives is unquantifiable.
Comment by flea Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 4:36 pm