Last week, Representatives Susan Manchester and Jim Hoops, as well as Senator Mark Romanchuk, introduced companion bills HB 625 and SB 325, respectively. The identical bills would seek to rebase the direct care portion of the Medicaid nursing facility formula, using 2021 costs. The rebasing would take effect for the July 1 ratesetting process and is intended to account for the rapid escalation in wages and agency usage that occurred during 2020 and 2021.
LeadingAge Ohio supported the development of the bill as one strategy to ameliorate the current workforce and wage pressures being felt by aging services providers.