Companion bills moving through the Massachusetts House and Senate would require that MassHealth — the state’s Medicaid program — reimburse facilities enough to pay all employees a “living wage.”
Neither bill specifies a wage level, but both emphasize that the higher wage applies to all workers involved in direct care — housekeeping, plant operations, laundry and clerical staff, in addition to certified nursing assistants.
In addition to creating a living wage, the measure also would give Massachusetts nursing homes six months to submit a disease-outbreak response plan. Among other things, it would have required that either an employee or consultant be on board to manage that strategy.
The reform legislation addresses many other long-term care issues, including staffing shortages and enforcement mechanisms.
The bills recently got the nod from state House Speaker Ron Mariano as potentially the first major piece of legislative business for the chamber for its 2023-2024 session, according to local reports.
“The pandemic really underscored the need for overdue changes in long-term care,” the radio station quoted state Rep. Tom Stanley (D-9th Middlesex District), co-chair of the Elder Affairs Committee, as saying. “Having a large number of residents in the same room is just obviously not the way to go any longer with the outbreak of the pandemic and concerns of future disease outbreaks.”
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health last month responded to the Life Care Center of Leominster where 50 residents and 33 employees tested positive for COVID-19, according to local NPR affiliate WBUR. A spokesperson for the 133-bed facility said 90% of infected residents exhibited mild or no symptoms.
According to a dashboard maintained by the state Department of Public Health, the average age of individuals who died from COVID between Feb. 2 and Feb. 18, 2023, was 79 years old.
According to the proposed facility reform legislation, the outbreak plans must include isolation protocols for infected and at-risk residents; clear notification policies for residents, their families, visitors, and staff; and monitoring policies designed to identify quickly the signs of a “communicable disease.”
Facilities also would be required to employ either full- or part-time or contract with someone certified by the Board of Infection Control & Epidemiology or a medical doctor who has completed an infectious disease fellowship.
In addition, the state health department would be required to solicit input from providers to create an infection prevention and control training program through its healthcare facility licensure and certification division.
“The department shall consult with the industry trade associations before requiring any new regulatory guidance, regulation, interpretation, program letter or memorandum, or any other materials used in surveyor training to survey licensed providers,” the legislation states.
In language mirroring a current White House initiative, the bill also directs the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission to study a staffing minimum that would “prevent a substandard quality of care” that includes the cost impact on facilities.
