Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Direct Care Workforce topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Legislators press DHW on direct‑care workforce, provider audits and family personal care changes
Summary
Committee members pressed the Department of Health and Welfare about whether recent rate increases are reaching direct care staff, follow-up audits of provider spending, and the department’s proposal to suspend family personal care services. Deputy director Juliette Sharon said audits and a follow-up cost survey are underway; the department is
Legislators at the Feb. 26 Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee hearing asked Department of Health and Welfare officials whether provider rate increases intended to shore up the direct‑care workforce are reaching front‑line staff and whether further policy changes may be needed.
Deputy Director Juliette Sharon told the committee the department completed a provider audit that showed only a small share of prior increases flowed directly to front‑line direct‑care staff; the department has conducted a follow‑up cost survey and will present results in coming months. Sharon said the department is "evaluating our authority, to, perhaps have some more stringent guidelines around, what funds need to go to direct care staff," but that it is mindful that many providers are small businesses.
Why this matters: Idaho and many states have reported shortages in home‑and‑community‑based services (HCBS) direct‑care staff. State rate increases are one tool to improve recruitment and retention; legislators asked whether the money reached wages or was absorbed by other business costs.
Sharon said the legislature had invested significantly in home and community‑based services in prior sessions and that the department is watching access metrics because insufficient staffing can force more expensive institutional placements. She also discussed a proposal the department submitted to CMS to suspend the family personal care services option (a non‑mandatory Medicaid service) so that trained family caregivers could still provide care but not to their own child or spouse; the department will monitor access and report back if changes cause gaps.
Senator Wintrow and other legislators requested a written update on the KW lawsuit resource allocation tool (the department is negotiating a new tool as part of the KW settlement and requested ongoing funds to support contracting and attorney fees related to that work). Sharon said the department stands ready to bring policy or budget recommendations if new authority is needed to ensure funds reach direct care staff.
