Proposal Presented for the Master Plan for Aging (#51)
Disclaimer
Throughout the MPA process, more than 100 proposals were developed thanks in particular to thousands of hours of work by external stakeholders and members of the public. These proposals and the MPA Council commentary are being submitted to the Governor and shared with policymakers and the public to inform policymaking. These proposals represent a starting point for discussion. Further discussion is necessary between relevant state agencies and stakeholders to both refine these proposals and assess which may be appropriate to adopt and implement.
Summary
Strengthen the Nursing Home Quality Incentive Pool through reallocation of funding from the Vital Access Provider Assurance Pool to offset changes to nursing home quality incentive pool. Recommendations for increased investment in improved nursing home quality include collective stakeholder input, additional metrics for staff, and investments in workforce training.
Justification
Many nursing homes, including non-profits, struggle to provide high quality care in a financially sustainable way. However, these nursing homes would significantly benefit from an improved incentive pool that rewards nursing homes for investment in workforce training and decreased turnover rates, among other quality-based metrics. This would incentivize nursing home providers to invest in these areas.
Full Proposal
Reallocate funding from the Vital Access Provider Assurance Pool to offset changes to nursing home quality incentive pool. This would involve collective stakeholder input to be reviewed and collated over a period of 120 days, and add metrics related to staff training, consistency in assignment and decreased turnover, and other measures over a period of 4 months, rewards investments in workforce training, forcing all nursing home providers to invest in these areas.
MPA Council Commentary
This proposal is categorized as long-term. The Nursing Home Quality Incentive Pool is currently a cost neutral pool funded through payments from the nursing homes based on their quality ratings. Policymakers may reference this proposal during the annual budget process, as adjustments to the Nursing Home Quality Incentive Pool will likely require legislative action and allocation or reallocation of funding for new programs is subject to the availability of resources. Adjustments would likely require a Medicaid State Plan Amendment.