Home Health & Hospice Week

Keep a close eye on possible minimum wage hike.

What exactly will be in or out of the final version of the latest COVID-19 stimulus package wasn’t clear at press time, but the impact of the massive piece of legislation will be undeniable.

One high-profile item that may hurt or help home care agencies is the minimum wage hike to $15 per hour. The controversial measure is far from a shoe-in for the final version of the bill.

“An increase to the federal minimum wage has long been a challenging issue for home care and hospice providers, as they seek to balance the need to properly reward the indispensable work of caregivers with inadequate payment rates that make it difficult to maintain any profit margin,” notes the National Association for Home Care & Hospice. “Some state Medicaid programs reimburse less than $15 per hour for personal care services, meaning the provider would in effect be paying itself to provide care.”

In a Feb. 9 letter, NAHC urged Congress to “increase payment rates from federally funded programs in conjunction with an increase to the minimum wage as a means to offset agencies increased labor cost,” it says.

At press time, the House of Representatives planned to pass its version of the bill on Fri. Feb. 28 and the Senate planned to get an approved version to President Biden by March 14, according to press reports.