Aging in place is so important to many older Pennsylvanians and their families. The same can be said for parents who wish to care for their physically disabled child at home, but need skilled nursing care.
Receiving medical assistance at home is possible thanks to the extraordinary work of the skilled in-home nursing care workforce. In Pennsylvania, some 13,000 medically fragile children and adults are able to live at home due to the compassionate skilled care these nurses provide. In-home care is much less expensive than hospital stays and allows patients to live their lives to the fullest and kids to enjoy their childhoods.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s 2024-2025 budget provides funds so these individuals can receive care in hospitals and institutions. But sadly, funding for in-home care was left out of this year’s budget. In addition, funding was provided for home care for individuals with developmental disabilities but not for individuals with physical disabilities.
While I supported the budget, I was very disappointed it did not include additional resources for home health care nursing for these families. Individuals with physical disabilities want to be at home, and it is the most cost-effective setting for families and for the State—so why can’t we make funding equitable for all Pennsylvania residents who want to and deserve to remain at home?
Thousands of Pennsylvania families find it increasingly difficult to hire in-home care because most nurses can earn more working in hospitals and institutions.
When families can’t find the home care they need for their family member, it often means they must leave their job to care for a loved one or place them in a long-term care facility which is much costlier for the state.
Home healthcare providers face significant challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified nurses and aides, given Pennsylvania’s low reimbursement rates. For example, the fee-for-service rate for nurses providing home nursing services to adult patients is alarmingly low at $44.08 an hour, a rate set by the state in 2012. Most neighboring states are paying significantly higher reimbursement rates for home nurses and aides, which only adds to these challenges. This puts access to quality care at great risk for children and adults with medically complex needs. We need to respond to this inadequacy by increasing Pennsylvania’s rates for these health professionals serving this vulnerable patient population.
That’s why as a state senator I am leading efforts requesting a rate increase in both the adult and pediatric shift nursing rates.
To achieve a robust at home healthcare system, we need to reexamine and adjust the provider rates to meet the demand. This rate adjustment must occur more often than every 10 years. A substantial rate increases for both pediatric and adult shift nurses will increase the number of nurses providing in-home care and allow the number of people with physical disabilities to remain at home with their families.
Not only would this investment enable more individuals to access the home nursing services they qualify for, nearly the entire cost would be offset by savings from fewer hospital stays and institutionalizations.
It’s time for Pennsylvania to address this critical healthcare need.
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