Caregivers Stabilization Act of 2023 (S.F. No. 7) - Summary

• Rate increases for direct care workers: Increases reimbursement rates for disability waiver services, elderly waiver services, nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, home care services, and nonemergency medical transportation services to improve worker compensation.

• Wage-focused spending requirement: Mandates that at least 80% of marginal revenue from rate increases must be used to increase direct employee compensation (wages, benefits, taxes) through 2024-2025, with distribution plans required to be posted for employee verification.

• Competitive workforce adjustments: Establishes biennial updates to competitive workforce factor adjustments based on wage differentials between direct care and comparable occupations, with maximum 2.0 percentage point decreases per update.

• Support for shared services and life-sharing: Increases rate caps for shared personal care services (allowing up to 3 recipients per service provider), establishes guidance for shared services arrangements, and directs commissioner to develop life-sharing as a covered waiver service.

• Emergency support programs: Establishes residential setting closure prevention grants ($6.67M annually) and expands emergency staffing pool to serve home and community-based services, plus appropriations for family assets programs and substance use disorder recovery support.