OHCA The Oregon Caregiver Fall Winter 2022

www.ohca.com FALL/WINTER 2022 The Oregon Caregiver 21 PUBLIC POLICY Approaching the next biennium, federal pandemic funding has slowed or stopped entirely, and the economy continues to experience high inflation and the threat of a recession as soon as next year. How the economy fares will be a critical factor in the extent the legislature has the resources to make new budgetary investments. Nevertheless, ensuring Oregon’s Medicaid system is appropriately reimbursing providers is the most critical component to ensure the long term care system can meet the needs of Oregon’s seniors. As such, it will be the highest budget priority for OHCA in 2023. OHCA will work with lawmakers to ensure rates are increased and the temporary rates are held steady to make sure providers do not experience a rate cut amid the workforce crisis and continued pandemic. Temporary Staffing Agencies Stabilizing costs borne by providers from some temporary staffing agencies was OHCA’s top policy priority in the 2022 session. The legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 1549 that improved standards and training for temporary staffing agencies and required them to be licensed with the state of Oregon by July 2023. While this is good progress toward improving the temporary staffing agency industry as a whole, more work needs to be done to control the fiscal impact of temporary staff on equitable access to care. SB 1549 called for the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to produce a policy proposal and recommendation on a process for setting annual maximum rates a temporary staffing agency may charge a provider. OHCA plans to bring legislation in the 2023 session to address market stabilization and encourage staff to seek longer-term, high-quality careers.  References 1. State of Oregon Employment Department, Employment Statistics. Winter 2022. 2. State of Oregon Employment Department, Unemployment Insurance Records. Winter 2022.

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