In a world warped by materialism and declining respect for human life, the Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred. We believe that every person is precious, that people are more important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person. We believe every person has a right to affordable, quality health care. Access to healthcare should not depend on where a person works, how much money a person has, or where a person lives.

Many Minnesotans, including many children, go without health insurance each year. MinnesotaCare, the chief healthcare reform to cover the uninsured, has an enrollment of 110,000 persons. Enrollment, however, has slowed - the application process has swelled to a 22-page form, eligibility barriers have been added, and costly premiums discourage child-only coverage. For those fortunate to have private coverage, premium costs are skyrocketing. Patients’ coverage is riddled with administrative barriers and counter-productive limitations on treatment. Citizens are increasingly frustrated by a healthcare system that is neither affordable nor responsive to their healthcare needs.

Catholic healthcare facilities as well as others have to turn people away because they do not have enough staff to care for residents. Loyal employees have to make economic decisions for their families and leave their nursing home job when they find employment that pays more or has better benefits. Often they are able to earn more working at convenience stores or fast food restaurants, positions that begin at higher wages than employees at nursing homes can earn.

In short, Minnesota has many issues facing our healthcare system.

What can the state do? Well, the state regulates the daily rates at nursing homes through setting the Medicaid rate, which is paid for care of about 60% of nursing home patients. The state also regulates private pay rates by requiring parity between private pay and Medicaid rates. Organizations have their hands tied. Only the state can alleviate the problem. Thus, short term relief, in the form of increased Medicaid reimbursement is critical to ensure that long-term care organizations can care for the people in need in their community.

Several proposals have been put forth to alleviate the problems facing nursing homes:

Senate File 2503: Which contains a 3% increase dedicated mostly to wages to raise the pay of nursing home workers.

House file 2699: Which establishes a per diem rate "floor", and raises the lowest 197 facilities to that floor. This bill will help rural facilities that have low per diem rates.

Senate File 2529: which recommends equalizing wages with the veterans home rates, which are considerably higher than the rates allowed all other nursing homes.

Many providers are recommending a Cost of Living Adjustment based on an appropriate healthcare index that is general and not tied to specific costs and expenditures. Also, add a $1.50 to $2.00 per resident per day increase to bring rates up. This would result in greater percentage increases for lower rates.

Minnesota has a tradition of high quality healthcare, which has always striven for quality care for all. Today, our healthcare tradition is threatened by the conditions facing our nursing homes. Before tax refunds and cuts are considered, we should examine the low salaries paid to those with the very important job of caring for our elderly. It is a question of justice and demanding livable wages for the caregivers, and high quality healthcare for our elderly.