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Disability, long‑term care providers and advocates warn wage freezes and DME cuts would worsen staffing and community living options
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Summary
Disability advocates, home‑and community‑based providers and workforce coalitions told the Committee on Health on June 5 that proposed fiscal changes to long‑term care services, durable medical equipment and wage policies would threaten community living and worsen staffing shortages.
Disability advocates, home‑ and community‑based providers and workforce coalitions told the Committee on Health on June 5 that proposed fiscal changes to long‑term care and support services would undermine community living for people with disabilities and worsen workforce shortages.
Jacqueline Verner of Disability Rights DC (the designated protection and advocacy program) described planned reforms that would reduce funding for community‑based long‑term care and DME, saying DHCF had presented proposals to reduce DME spending by at least 10 percent and to cut $1,000,000 locally from home health services through payment methodology changes. "Reductions in Medicaid community based long term care and DME as a cost savings measure won't save the district money in the long term," Verner told the committee, because loss of supports can lead to institutionalization and higher cost care.
Ian Paragol, executive director of the DC Coalition of Disability Service Providers, asked that the Council preserve multi‑year support for the DSP wage enhancements enacted after recent local legislation. He said freezing direct support wage increases beyond FY26 would undermine the workforce that delivers home‑ and community‑based waiver services and could recreate earlier exodus patterns among caregivers. He described current vacancy and turnover levels and urged that any FY26 actions include ongoing funding commitments to protect staffing.
Provider groups including the DC Home Health Association and LeadingAge DC echoed workforce concerns. Rajan Thomas, president of the DC Home Health Association, said the proposed elimination of enhanced wages at the end of FY26 could cause workers to leave and called for sustained wage policies and additional operational supports. LeadingAge DC added that population aging trends and a constrained long‑term care workforce heighten the consequences of short‑term savings.
Advocates urged the Council to avoid administratively driven reductions to DME that would erect new access barriers (citing wheelchairs, hospital beds and incontinence supplies as examples) and to prioritize provider rate adequacy to keep community‑based services viable.
The committee asked agencies to provide more detail on the proposed DME utilization reviews, provider payment methodology changes, and the multi‑year cost estimate for maintaining DSP wage enhancements so Council members could understand tradeoffs and monitor impacts.
