2016 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 6
BY SENATOR BARROW
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Department of Health and Hospitals to evaluate and report on
funding solutions for in-home support providers.
WHEREAS, community based in-home support providers are a fundamental
component of the health care spectrum as more and more individuals seek community based
care as opposed to institutionalization; and
WHEREAS, this provider group has been disproportionally jeopardized by a series
of rate reductions and unfunded mandates over the past several years; and
WHEREAS, since 2010, in-home support providers have suffered a 23% rate
reduction while other institutional providers have experienced marginal rate reductions or
no reductions at all, making the current in-home provider rate less than the provider rate in
2008; and
WHEREAS, in 2016 the Affordable Care Act required in-home support providers
to offer health insurance to 95% of agency employees without the provision of state or
federal dollars to cover the mandate; and
WHEREAS, also in 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor overtime rule became
effective requiring in-home support providers to begin paying overtime rates to their
employees without the provision of state or federal dollars to cover the mandate; and
WHEREAS, it is estimated that for a mid-size agency, which a majority of in-home
support providers are, the costs of implementing these unfunded mandates could be nearly
half a million dollars; and
WHEREAS, because of the rate reductions and unfunded mandates, a recent survey
by the Supported Living Network documented that nearly three quarters of the three hundred
current in-home support providers are facing bankruptcy, closure or elimination within the
next six months; and
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WHEREAS, this puts employment of thirty thousand direct support workers at risk
of unemployment and will leave more than twenty thousand individuals with disabilities and
seniors without in-home care, placing them at risk of institutionalization; and
WHEREAS, other provider groups have been much more favored by the department
and have not sustained the rate reductions borne by in-home support providers without any
regard to this provider group's ability to sustain such rate reductions and unfunded mandates;
and
WHEREAS, it is the responsibility of the Department of Health and Hospitals to
ensure that their reimbursement rates are adequate to maintain an appropriate provider
network to care for individuals with disabilities and seniors in the community.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby urge and request the Department of Health and Hospitals to evaluate and report
on funding solutions for in-home support providers.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report shall include data on the rate
reductions of in-home support providers versus rate reductions to institutional nursing home
providers, by year, since 2008, and should also include data on all of the unfunded mandates
being thrust upon this provider group.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report shall include a detailed plan
identifying realistic funding strategies and solutions that can be implemented for this
provider group and a timeline for implementation to ensure sustainability of the services they
provide to the individuals who rely on them the most.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department shall submit a report of its
findings and recommendations to the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana no later than
October 1, 2016.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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