(Editor’s Note: The following column was submitted by Re[p. Shane Mekeland.)
The nursing home crisis in our state and the House majority’s unwillingness to address this issue is a problem.
A recent report illustrated the following points:
• In Minnesota alone, the equivalent of 45 facilities have been forced to close due to downsizing;
• Nationally, nursing homes lost at least 210,000 jobs in the pandemic – levels not seen since 1994;
• Half of nursing home providers said their workforce situation has worsened since May 2022;
• The timing is troubling as aging baby boomers are raising the risk of this long-term care crisis.
It’s the Minnesota Legislature’s job to provide funding that nursing homes receive to hire and pay staff, care for residents, and cover their bills. Reimbursement rates set by the state need to be adjusted, along with changes in how inflation is calculated into the rates. Waiting nearly two years to have those increased costs accounted for, as the case is now, is simply too long – especially in these times of high inflation.
House Republicans recently moved to declare emergency on this issue and bring to the floor a bill that would have addressed the situation. Unfortunately, that motion failed on a party-line vote, with House Democrats blocking it.
Nursing homes need our help today if we want them around to care for our seniors tomorrow, but the lack of funding for nursing homes in the House majority’s budget proposal for the next two-year cycle is glaring. Nursing homes are closing because they can’t afford to stay open, and the House majority is not helping.
From not repealing the state tax on Social Security to failing to support our nursing homes, House Democrats are not making Minnesota seniors a priority.
Meanwhile, our hospitals are clogged with patients that should be discharged to nursing homes. Unlike other facilities, nursing homes are the only other option besides a hospital with nurses around the clock. And families are waiting weeks and looking up to four hours away just to find a safe place for their loved ones. We’re turning away thousands of people that need nursing home care but can’t get a bed.
These frontline heroes working at nursing homes sacrificed everything for our seniors during the pandemic. Last year, they got a $487 thank-you stipend. This year, the House majority is turning its back on these essential care providers.
I’ll ask, yet again: If we can’t support nursing homes and stem this crisis at a time the state has a $17.5 billion surplus, when can we?
Republican House members have joined nursing home providers by calling on the Legislature to take action and ensure our nursing homes have the investments they need to keep caring for our seniors. We will have approximately six weeks to take action on this issue before the Legislature is set to adjourn. That’s plenty of time to do the right thing and provide our nursing homes with the help they need to take care of our seniors, but it will take a willingness from the House majority to do so.
Will House Democrats take a break from their focus on more divisive, controversial issues – such as legalizing marijuana, passing extreme abortion policy, pushing gender-related legislation and raising taxes despite a massive surplus – to focus on something as important as supporting our seniors? Time will tell.
