Committee backs appropriations to raise rates for home‑ and community‑based services amid workforce crisis
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Summary
The committee gave SB 10‑72 a due‑pass recommendation. The bill would appropriate tens of millions to increase reimbursement rates for HCBS for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities; providers testified of thousands of vacancies, large overtime costs and risks to continuity of care.
The Appropriations Committee advanced SB 10‑72, which would appropriate $46 million from the state general fund and $84.2 million in Medicaid expenditure authority annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to increase reimbursement rates for home‑ and community‑based services (HCBS).
Provider groups and advocacy organizations said Arizona is facing a direct‑care workforce crisis that leaves tens of thousands of unfilled authorizations and forces overtime and closures of group homes. APAD and multiple providers testified that, in a sample of 32 providers, nearly 1,000 caregiver vacancies were reported, resulting in extensive overtime (more than $9.5 million in overtime for respondents) and disruption of care for about 47,000 long‑term‑care recipients in the DDD system.
Witnesses urged the committee to fund rate increases to bring direct‑care wages closer to market rates; one provider estimated full funding would raise average in‑home caregiver pay to about $17 per hour. Senators questioned how the funds would be distributed equitably across contractors and how to ensure increases reach frontline staff rather than being absorbed by administrative costs.
The committee moved SB 10‑72 forward with a due‑pass recommendation.
The bill requires a survey of the direct‑support workforce and a reporting mechanism to the joint legislative budget committee to evaluate whether subsequent appropriations in FY2030–2031 should proceed depending on workforce improvements.