This week, the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee assigned six Senators to work more closely on developing the Committee’s bipartisan health care workforce shortage bill. The Senators assigned to Working Group include Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM); Tina Smith (D-MN); Ed Markey (D-MA); Lisa Murkowski (R-AK); Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS); and Markwayne Mullin (R – OK). 

LeadingAge will work our state partners to encourage members with communities in these states to contact these Senators and ask that provisions to address the aging services workforce crisis be included in the HELP Committee’s bipartisan legislation. All advocates can highlight the five LeadingAge solutions to the aging services workforce crisis included in the LeadingAge HELP Committee Request For Information on the severe aging services workforce shortage:

• Increase compensation and pay aging services professionals a living wage.
• Offer incentives to expand training and advancement opportunities and expand domestic pipelines.
• Make meaningful changes in immigration laws to make it easier for more aging services workers to enter the U.S. and get work in provider organizations.
• Reduce regulatory burdens and enhance flexibility to increase the number of staff, rather than punish and fine organizations for not having enough workers.
• Address and prohibit price gouging by staffing agencies who are taking advantage of health care and long-term care providers who have no choice than to pay high prices for hourly help, who ultimately face closing their doors.