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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Paul Anderson (R)

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HHS BILL FALLS SHORT FOR NURSING HOMES

Monday, April 22, 2013

 

By Rep. Paul Anderson

The very large Health and Human Services budget bill will be on the House floor for debate this week. And, despite the fact that Democratic leadership is calling for around $2.5 billion in new taxes for the upcoming biennium, a spending target with a cut was given to those in charge of putting the HHS budget together. Of special concern is the funding level for those who deal with our older residents and long-term care.

A bipartisan bill was introduced earlier in the session that called for a five-percent increase in state funding for nursing homes and a program called Elderly Waiver, which helps seniors stay in their own homes. The cost for this five-percent increase is estimated to be around $56 million, granted, a big number, but in the overall scope of state spending and the looming $2 billion-plus tax increase, certainly a number we should be able to come up with.

A group called the Republican Rural Caucus met last week with representatives from long term care, and they told us that the three-percent increase proposed in the current HHS bill isn’t as good as it sounds. That’s because the money proposed for wage increases for nursing home workers will be transferred from other areas of nursing home funding, so the net result is an actual cut in overall spending. They said they would receive more funding under current legislation and would be better off if left out of the new funding proposal.

Nursing homes, especially those in outstate Minnesota, are having a difficult time financially. Their reimbursement rates from the state have mostly been held flat the past four years, so most workers in these facilities have not had pay increases in that time. It’s frustrating that when the state is going to raise taxes like the current majority is planning to do, yet they couldn’t come up with a plan that treated our long-term care folks better. It was pointed out that if the minimum wage is increased, nursing homes will have a difficult time adjusting their pay scales. The money is simply not there to make adjustments in what they pay their workers.

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It’s been a long time since an agricultural funding bill was passed in the House without bi-partisan support. But that’s what happened last week when the omnibus environment and ag bill was debated and eventually passed. The fee increases contained in the bill are concerning, especially those dealing with major water users. We are not talking just those who irrigate, but every town and city in Minnesota that uses ground water for its municipal water supply. Because of last year’s drought, there has been a major focus in our committee on potentially dwindling ground water levels in some of our state’s aquifers. I thought it was interesting that as the bill was being debated last Thursday, April 18, a major precipitation event, in the form of heavy, wet snow, was taking place outside the Capital and across much of Minnesota.

The moisture is wonderful, especially if it has a chance to soak into the ground and not run off. Our cold temps will help in that regard by slowing down the snowmelt, but at some point we need it to warm up so spring can actually occur. There are still a few venturing out on area lakes to ice fish. Even saw a cartoon depicting the fishing opener in just a couple of weeks with an angler making use of an ice auger!

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