Weinberg, Allen, Pou Announce Effort to Address ‘Race to the Bottom’ By Medicaid Insurance Providers

Rate Cuts Threaten Quality & Availability of In-Home Care Services

TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, Senator Diane Allen and Senator Nellie Pou today announced an effort to halt cuts to reimbursement rates by Medicaid Managed Care Organizations for personal care assistant services – a Medicaid benefit utilized by nearly 40,000 patients in New Jersey. Personal Care Assistants help residents with basic tasks, such as bathing, dressing and eating, and allows those with severe health conditions to continue living at home and receiving needed care.

The senators are sponsoring legislation to reverse the trend in cuts to reimbursement rates by setting a rate floor. The bill was approved by the Assembly Monday. It will be heard in the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee next Thursday, June 1; the senators said they will work to get it through the Senate and to the governor’s desk.

“There has been a trend towards reducing the rates for personal care assistant services. It is essentially a race to the bottom to see who can pay the lowest reimbursement rates and get the biggest bang for their buck,” said Senator Weinberg (D-Bergen). “Cutting rates puts more pressure on health care providers – and means they aren’t able to offer their employees the compensation they deserve and the increase in pay they need to keep experienced health care workers on the job. This threatens both the quality and availability of care for those who need it.”

The bill (S-1018), sponsored by Senators Weinberg and Nilsa Cruz-Perez, would require that reimbursement rates for personal care services funded through Medicaid fee-for-service delivery or a Medicaid Managed Care organization be no less than the established state Medicaid fee-for-service rate – currently  set at $18.00 per hour – with adjustments in the future.

“At this point, we are practically asking these dedicated individuals to volunteer their services, and to sacrifice the wellness of their own families as they work to address the needs of their patients,” said Senator Cruz-Perez (D-Camden/Gloucester). “If the providers cannot offer a competitive salary, they will stop being able to attract the caring, dedicated and highly in-demand caregivers that New Jersey residents deserve, no matter how big their hearts, how great their passion for helping others. Establishing a rate floor is the right thing to do to protect the care provided to our most vulnerable.”

“The extremely low reimbursement rate for these critical services is already straining the industry and creating challenges to attracting and maintaining the workforce they need to provide care,” said Senator Pou (D-Bergen and Passaic), a bill co-sponsor. “We cannot allow these reductions to continue, and we’re committed to working to advance legislation to ensure that providers have the resources they need to operate and to continue to care for residents in their home setting.”

“Additional reimbursement cuts for in-home care will put some of New Jersey’s most vulnerable residents at risk,” said Allen, a co-sponsor of the legislation. “Those who provide this critical care should be paid a reasonable rate, which will continue to make it possible for nursing home eligible patients to remain in their own homes.”

“When caring for New Jersey’s most vulnerable population, further reductions in reimbursement rates have a devastating impact on the patients and certified home health aides that provide such critical care in the home,” said Chrissy Buteas, President & CEO, Home Care & Hospice Association of NJ.  “New Jersey’s home care agencies strive to provide high quality, cost effective care in the home and further cuts exacerbate access to care issues, caregiver recruitment and retention and patients’ ability to receive care where they want to be – at home.”