A few lawmakers broke out the hitting sticks during a recent union-backed event. The target was pretty clear from the get-go.
“We know who the opposition is,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). She specifically cited the American Health Care Association. But make no mistake, the moniker was meant for any owner or operator who doesn’t actively support the push for staffing mandates.
So, in case the message isn’t clear, let me spell it out: Nursing homes are bad. Bad, bad, bad.
There is no denying that the industry has major hiring and retention challenges. And the reason for both is not terribly difficult to figure out. It boils down to basic economics.
Staff costs are already the highest budget item at most facilities, despite the relatively low wages that are offered. Moreover, many facilities are barely scraping by.
So let’s get real. As is, nursing homes cannot hire anywhere near enough help. All a mandate will do is give regulators another enforcement tool.
And while we’re passing the blame jar around, let’s not forget where the root of this problem lies.
When Congress was establishing the Medicare and Medicaid programs, nursing home care was going to be covered as an entitlement. But several key lawmakers balked at the expense. As a result, Medicaid became the primary payer — a reality that still exists.
In other words, Congress made nursing home care a poorly subsidized benefit for the subsidized poor. What could possibly go wrong?
Rep. Schakowsky, do you think maybe some of the blame should perhaps be put on Congress? After all, it was Congress that soiled itself at the moment of truth decades ago.
While we’re pointing fingers, isn’t your state of Illinois grappling with a few problems of its own? Problems like that $100 billion-plus hole in the state pension system? Problems like non-poor residents running for the border to escape some of the nation’s highest sales, property and income taxes?
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, perhaps the problems you should be trying to fix are, well, a bit closer to home.
