The recent deal to increase staffing levels across the state made between Pennsylvania nursing home trade associations and Governor Tom Wolf, as well as SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, was a front-page story in the Times Tribune’s July 12th issue. This deal is anticipated to decrease high turnover rates burdening nursing homes. Governor Wolf also signed new legislation that awards an estimated “20% increase” in “Medicaid payments” to nursing homes. In addition to upgrading the care nursing home residents receive, the article mentions that this financial increase is expected to raise the earnings of nursing home employees and refine the financial expenses of nursing homes. As a result, the Governor believes the new deal will be extremely beneficial to the Pennsylvania nursing home industry.
It is no surprise that the pandemic had an extremely negative impact on the nursing home industry. In fact, Matt Yarnell, “president of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania” said that the pandemic’s harmful effect on nursing homes is what ultimately prompted this new nursing home deal to raise reimbursement rates from Medicaid. Nursing home residents, who are recipients of Medicaid, caused many nursing homes great financial losses prompting these facilities to shut down. Because of this, nursing home trade associations are delighted by this new deal. The article specifically mentions that under this new each resident will receive 2.87 hours of care per day instead of 2.7 hours. There will also be a required “ratio” of nursing home staff to residents. These changes will start in January 2023. However, nursing homes will be federally awarded $130 million dollars until this time. Lastly, healthcare association officials are optimistic that nursing home staff salaries will be increased from $16.50 to $20 an hour in order to prevent high levels of employees from parting with the nursing home field.
Contact an Experienced Nursing home Abuse and Neglect Attorney
While this increase in patient care hours is beneficial in improving the quality of care received by residents, there is still much improvement that needs to be done in the nursing home industry. As always, please be cautious when choosing a nursing home facility. Make sure to check the turnover rates as well as the overall rating of the facility. If you or a loved one has suffered from, nursing home abuse and/or neglect, please reach out to our experienced attorneys at Dougherty, Leventhal & Price, L.L.P. Our team will fight for you! Remember: Injury? Call DLP! (570) C-A-L-L-D-L-P.
Works Cited
Levy, Marc. “Governor, nursing homes have deal on staff.” The Times-Tribune, 12 July 2022, p. A1, A12.
