Ohio bill would give nursing homes $300 million in coronavirus relief money – cleveland.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio A bill in the Ohio House would provide nursing homes $300 million in coronavirus relief money, with no guardrails around how it would get spent.

House Bill 461, sponsored by Cincinnati-area Republican Rep. Sara Carruthers, would provide nursing homes a one-time payment from the American Rescue Plan Act by Dec. 31. The bill contains a formula specifying how the money would get divided among the states nearly 1,000 homes.

Ohio could receive $5.8 billion over two years from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed in Congress in March. The first years installment was already distributed to the state, and much of it was spent on paying back the federal government for unemployment payments advanced to the state, a water and sewer program, pediatric behavioral health care, among other items.

About $850 million remains from the first installment. HB 461 would spend over a third of it.

The nursing home industry is reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, with staff shortages, increased costs and fewer patients.

Yet, HB 461 doesnt contain any rules about how homes or the companies that own them should spend the money. As a result, the money could be spent on anything from staff pay raises and personal protective equipment to C-suite bonuses and stock buybacks.

Nursing home staff cared for our parents and grandparents throughout a pandemic that devastated Ohios care facilities. They have earned COVID hero pay and more. But this bill as written fails to ensure the money goes to workers on the front lines, said Desiree Tims, president and CEO of the progressive policy organization Innovation Ohio.

Representatives of two of the states largest nursing home associations, the Ohio Health Care Association and LeadingAge Ohio, said that while they are seeking coronavirus relief money, they did not suggest HB 461. A third prominent association, the Academy for Senior Health Sciences, formerly known as the Ohio Academy of Nursing Homes, also lobbies the legislature and has been concerned about the industrys financial losses. Ohio Academy for Senior Health Sciences officials havent commented for this article.

Nursing homes are among a long list of sectors that have suffered financially during the pandemic. Foodbanks, housing organizations and childrens groups also have argued that coronavirus relief money should be spent on health and human services.

Nursing homes have a successful history of receiving money from Ohio lawmakers, said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, a good government group.

Nursing homes have a long history of making campaign contributions to legislators, and when I say legislators, I mean all legislators, and obviously more to those in leadership, she said. They also have a strong lobbying history as well. And when you think about nursing homes, were talking about the care of the elderly. You combine heartstrings and cash, they have garnered good support from legislators over the years.

If the state wants to rescue an industry, there should be parameters on how the money is spent, she said.

We always want to make sure that theres as much detail as possible when we help out industries, period, she said. We want to make sure that theres a healthy debate and deliberation over it.

Ohio nursing home operating revenue decreased 11.7% between the first quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, due to many families choosing to keep their loved ones at home, concerned about coronavirus spreading in the congregate care settings, according to research by Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University that was promoted in September by LeadingAge Ohio, the Ohio Health Care Association and the Academy for Senior Health Sciences.

In that same time, labor costs increased 17.9%, and the costs of staffing agencies that provide employees to fill in at nursing homes increased by over five times in that time, the study said.

Homes may continue to rely on staffing agencies because some employees do not want to be vaccinated, believing misinformation about COVID-19 shots pedaled on the internet. President Joe Biden is requiring all nursing home employees must be vaccinated by Jan. 4 that accept Medicare or Medicaid as payment.

Nearly every nursing home in the state relies on Medicare and Medicaid, said Patrick Schwartz, a spokesman for LeadingAge Ohio, which represents mostly nonprofit homes.

While LeadingAge isnt behind HB 461, it believes nursing homes should get some relief.

Older adults and their caregivers and the long-term care workforce have born an extraordinary amount of stress, and this pandemic has been so harmful to them, he said. The population of older adults is going to skyrocket over the next 20 years all over the state. The time is now to really invest in long-term care and aging services.

The nursing home industry has been generous with Ohio politicians.

Since 2016, nursing home political action committees and employees have contributed $1.3 million to state legislative candidates, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks campaign finance.

In the last five years, the Academy for Senior Health Sciences PAC has donated $107,000 to Ohio politicians, all Republicans.

Carruthers, the sponsor of HB 461, hasnt received any money from the Academy for Senior Health Sciences PAC or others in the nursing home industry. But the Academy for Senior Health Sciences PAC gave the Ohio Republican State Central & Executive Committee State Candidate Fund received $10,000 in 2019.

Lt. Gov. Jon Husteds campaign committee received $12,500 in 2016.

Virtually every sector of the economy has experienced hardship during the pandemic.

Child care agencies are pushing the General Assembly to release another pot of American Rescue Plan Act money, Child Care Stabilization Grants. The state received $800 million to award stabilization grants for use over two years. Ohio still has $638 million remaining. Of that, Ohio will lose $400 million if its not directed to agencies by Dec. 11, said Katie Kelly, executive director of PRE4CLE, a Cleveland initiative to increase access to high-quality preschool.

Kelly said that childcare teachers have left the profession due to low pay and the risks of working during a pandemic. Many childcare centers have closed classrooms due to the lack of staff. Child care center owners borrowed money to continue operating. Even though the economy has reopened, some children have not returned because their parents are not working and dont have access to childcare subsidies.

Similar to what the nursing homes are doing, there needs to be legislation (for the childcare grants.) Half of that $800 million needs to be appropriated by Dec. 11 of this year, or else we risk turning those back to be used by another state, Kelly said. Those dollars are desperately needed to help providers pay off those debts. To attract staff back to the workforce through signing bonuses and to pay for ongoing costs due to PPE and sanitation strategies they need to have in place. Were not out of this pandemic. Ohio doesnt need to lose significant childcare capacity permanently. We have many providers who are on the brink of closure.

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Ohio bill would give nursing homes $300 million in coronavirus relief money - cleveland.com