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Committee hears HB96 on home-care pay standards and advisory board; providers warn fixed wage mandate could hurt rural agencies
Summary
House Bill 96 would create a Home Care Employment Standards Advisory Board and includes a provision tying a large share of agency rates to direct-care worker pay. Providers urged removing mandatory wage allocations until the advisory board finishes its work; union testimony supported the pay guardrail and Department of Health officials said the federal 80% requirement is being rescinded and cited a Guidehouse rate study calling for a 32% rate increase.
The Alaska Senate Finance Committee heard House Bill 96 on May 12, a proposal to create a Home Care Employment Standards Advisory Board and to set workplace and pay expectations for personal care services agencies. Representative Mike Prox, the bill’s prime sponsor, said the measure responds to a severe caregiver shortage and draws on a Guidehouse rate study to guide policy.
Jen Kimble, executive director of the Alaska Association for Personal Care Supports, told the committee she supports strengthening the direct-care workforce and creation of the advisory board (section 1) but urged removing section 2 because it would impose fixed wage requirements before the new board completes its modernization and rate-assessment work. Kimble said…
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