Economic pressures and demographic changes have put the state’s nursing homes and other long-term care providers in a perilous situation. Families face the most dire situation in years for taking care of their loved ones.

There’s a shortage of 20,000 long-term care workers, about 20% of the total needed. Inflation, including the need for higher wages, has led providers to turn away some 11,000 families in just one month because state and federal reimbursement rates are woefully inadequate to cover costs.

The result is that patients end up waiting for days in the emergency room or take up valuable hospital beds. And the irony is that there are some 2,500 nursing home beds available statewide if providers could find workers to staff them.

This health care crisis is urgent and large investments are needed. We hope Gov. Tim Walz and the Legislature understand the urgency of this issue. The Long-Term Care Imperative, a nonprofit lobbying group for nursing homes and assisted living centers, says $1 billion is needed from state and federal government to shore up the system, that includes a 15% hike in the reimbursement rate for nursing homes, which is about $350 a day. Legislative proposals fall short of that number depending on one’s analysis. Minnesota Commissioner of Human Services Jodi Harpstead told a Free Press editor that the current formula for nursing homes would give the industry $800 million over two years and would allow for wages of $20 per hour for care staff.

“We’re not sure why that doesn’t work,” Harpstead said.

So there’s a bit of a disconnect between state leaders in this field and the providers. That’s a problem.

Sen. Nick Frentz, DFL-North Mankato, said he believes a proposal in the DFL Senate is so far the best one, adding $1.50 an hour to a variety of nursing home care jobs bringing average wages to around $15 per hour for certain positions.

He notes the fix for nursing homes is expensive. Another $1.50 to the wage base would cost the state another $300 million. He notes human services is already in the broad budget agreement for $1.3 billion. Adding additional funding for nursing home wages would bring it up to a significant portion of the $6 billion structural surplus. And there’s fierce competition for that money.

Frentz, who supports a bipartisan bill going through the Senate, said he would support a bigger increase in rates for long-term care facilities and workers, and he noted rural Minnesota is more affected by nursing home troubles as the demographics show a larger aging population. Rep. Luke Frederick, DFL-Mankato, also said he would like to see higher budget targets than those already settled on.

We agree. Funding nursing homes and long-term care has become a critical need and it should be a top priority. The Senate plan is the place to start. (The DFL House proposal has been criticized by GOP Rep. Paul Torkelson of Hanska as a “measly $3.9 million” in a letter to The Free Press.)

Gov. Tim Walz’s plan included no increase for the nursing home reimbursement rate. That falls short. We believe some rate increase is warranted. We applaud his budget for calling for $164 million increase in the elderly waiver reimbursement rate that draws a federal match. Harpstead also pointed out the Walz budget includes $40 million to help relieve the emergency room, hospital bed, nursing home bed logjam and another $4 million for emergency aid to nursing homes on the verge of closing. But right now, the Legislature and governor must act with urgency. Some 17 nursing homes have closed in the last two years. Others are losing beds because they cannot hire staff to care for them, including 23 beds in Waseca County and 30 beds in Faribault County.

We hope Frentz, as vice chair of the Senate finance committee where spending bills will be vetted soon, can be influential in expressing the urgency of outstate needs in nursing homes, especially to his metro colleagues.

Seniors and their families and the people who care for them are suffering.

— Mankato Free Press