The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) announces that Medicaid cost coverage for nursing homes will increase from 77% for fiscal year 2022 to 91% for fiscal year 2023. The increase implements one of the key recommendations from Governor’s Task Force on Caregiving, tying a significant amount of the increase to direct care nursing and supporting the healthcare workforce in both wages and benefits.
“The people who work in and lead Wisconsin’s nursing homes are critical to ensuring quality care for residents across the state of Wisconsin,” said Karen Timberlake, DHS Secretary-designee. “Our new rate setting model allows us to prioritize funding for direct care nursing and support increased wages for healthcare workers to ensure continuing high-quality care.”
The rate increase fulfills Gov. Evers commitment announced earlier this year to increase rates for nursing homes and hospitals. From July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2023, Wisconsin is investing more than $500 million in payments and incentives to nursing homes, and more than $275 million in payments and incentives to hospitals. Wisconsin projects that the demand for long-term care services will rise faster than the workforce will grow in the coming years. According to the Governor’s Taskforce on Caregiving, the state’s population age 65 and older is expected to grow by 72% from 2015–2040. This rate of growth is six times higher than the overall increase in Wisconsin population, projected at 12% for the same period.
