Florida House Proposes 4% Medicaid Funding Increase for Nursing Center Residents

FHCA Statement on Florida Nursing Centers Funding in 2024 Proposed House Health Care Appropriations Budget

Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, the Florida House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee, chaired by Representative Sam Garrison, announced the Chair’s Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2024-2025, which includes a $123.9 million (4%) increase to Florida’s nursing centers and their residents.

“Thank you to Speaker Renner, Appropriations Chair Tom Leek, and Health Care Appropriations Chair Garrison for acknowledging the importance of investing in our state’s nursing centers. If we do not make bold investments to strengthen our long-term care workforce, we will be left with the question of ‘who will care’ for Florida’s aging population,” said Florida Health Care Association Chief Executive Officer Emmett Reed.

“This increase is good first step toward rebuilding a workforce that has faced many challenges since the pandemic and is critical to ensure quality care for our state’s growing senior population. The Florida Health Care Association looks forward to working with the Legislature over these next few weeks to build upon these investments so that our nursing centers may continue to deliver high-quality care today and into the future.”

Florida will add a quarter-million additional residents each year through 2030, and the majority of these new residents – 57% of them – will be age 60 and older. As a result, long term care employers will need to fill 235,000 job openings in direct care from 2020 to 2030, including 25,000 new jobs to meet rising demand, and another 210,000 job openings to replace workers who leave the labor force or transfer to new occupations.

A recent survey by the Florida Health Care Association found that 95% of nursing center providers find it challenging to recruit and retain staff, despite consistent pay increases. Competition with other, higher-paying, health care providers such as hospitals and a shortage of qualified candidates are the top reasons it is difficult to recruit in long term care.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 24, 2024

PRESS CONTACT:
Kristen Knapp, APR
850-510-4389 or kknapp@fhca.org