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House passes nursing-facilities assessment to boost pay and leverage federal match
Summary
Lawmakers approved House Bill 401 to impose a $1 per patient-day assessment on nursing facilities, which sponsors say will leverage a 3:1 federal Medicaid match and bring nearly $7 million in federal funds; the House passed the bill 67–3.
The Utah House on Feb. 20 approved House Bill 401, a nursing-facilities assessment designed to raise money to shore up staff wages and improve long-term care quality. Representative Donald R. LeBaron, the bill's sponsor, described amendments to clarify covered populations and to allow continuity of assessment on patients who are temporarily absent. He explained the centerpiece: a $1-per-patient-day assessment on providers that will be deposited to a restricted account and used with Medicaid to increase payments to facilities.
LeBaron and supporters said the assessment was proposed by industry stakeholders and would be used to increase wages for nurse's aides and other frontline staff. "An assessment of $1 per patient day" will be added, LeBaron said, and sponsors argued that the state's $2.25 million in assessment revenue would attract a three‑to‑one federal match, yielding nearly $7,000,000 in additional federal funds.
Members questioned the cost impact on private-pay residents; Representative Hayes Hunter asked whether that could result in about a $30 monthly increase on a 30‑day occupancy. The sponsor said many facilities would absorb the assessment out of their existing rates and that the change had broad industry support.
Other questions addressed scope language: committee amendments replaced "infirm" with "physically disabled" and deleted references to specific centers at the request of stakeholders. The House debated whether to give the department authority to adjust the assessment annually; sponsors said the language is intended to keep the measure self-supporting and tied to Medicaid inflationary increases.
After debate and floor amendment technical fixes, the bill passed the House with 67 votes in favor and 3 opposed and was referred to the Senate for further consideration.
