Bills to raise pay for nursing home staff, home health aides advance in House

Direct care workers for the elderly and disabled could soon make more money in North Carolina.

The House Health committee passed two bills unanimously Tuesday to add more money to Medicaid to increase the pay for staff at group homes and nursing homes, as well as home health aides.

The workers, who feed, bathe, toilet and give medication to disabled and elderly people in care facilities and home settings make an average of only $10.50 an hour, and the coronavirus pandemic only exacerbated shortages of certified nurse aides and home health aides.

Rising wages in other job sectors, such as retail and fast food, are making it even harder for care facilities to compete for workers.

Rep Donna White, R-Johnston, said turnover rates for care workers are at a record 56 percent, and as many as one-third of jobs needed for adequate staffing are vacant.

"Many of our health care companies who depend on Medicaid as their sole source of revenue do not have that financial flexibility to increase their wages and wages there were not able to keep up," White told fellow lawmakers.

Sandra Brown says the low pay and unfilled positions are endangering patient welfare. She's been working in the industry for 28 years and still earns just $10 an hour with no health insurance.

"I’ve held their hand [and] wiped their tears. I’ve given them their final baths so that they never were – nor did they ever feel – alone," Brown said. "I’m very proud of the care I give my patients."

Taken together, the two bills would add hundreds of millions of dollars to the state Medicaid budget to increase reimbursement rates. The bills still have to clear two other committees before getting to the House floor, and it's also unclear whether the Senate will agree to that much of a spending increase.