IOM Report Suggests Problem with Long-Term Care Labor Force

According to the report, the U.S. health-care work force is “too small and woefully unprepared” for the growing elderly population. It paints a bleak picture of increased demand for workers that right now cannot be met by a stagnant or even dwindling supply of those trained to care for the elderly.

This information is helping the Texas Health Care Association (THCA) make its case for a raise in Medicaid reimbursement rates.  THCA believes the need to expand Texas’s long-term care workforce to meet the demand for care will be hampered by the fact the state’s Medicaid reimbursement rates rank next-to-last in the nation.

“Medicaid plays an enormous role in shaping Texas’ nursing home labor force and its long-term ability to meet the growing demand for care,” said Tim Graves, THCA president.

According to the national accounting firm BDO Seidman and other sources, while the average national daily Medicaid rate per patient is $153.83, the Texas rate is just $106.59, good for a ranking of 49th. Other states in the region fare a little better: New Mexico ranks 30th, at $137.24; Oklahoma ranks 44th, at $116.84; Arkansas ranks 47th, at $111.76; and Louisiana ranks 45th, at $115.

Not only does Medicaid affect the size of the nursing home labor force, but it also affects the quality of care given in those facilities, according to Graves.

“Government has every right to insist upon quality care, but government also has an obligation to adequately finance that care—and the new IOM report and its recommendations help make the case for doing so,” he said.

Graves said it is essential before the next legislative session to conduct a policy discussion about how to strengthen the Texas Medicaid program’s reimbursement rate, especially in light of the fact that the pending wave of retirees, many of whom will eventually require long-term care and services, will place more stress on an already over-burdened Medicaid system.