Last Friday marked the completion of my first full week at the helm of WHCA, and this week, I am pleased to provide you with my first report to our membership related to our work in the Washington State Legislature.

First, I feel both gratified and honored to have the opportunity to lead the team at WHCA, and to work with the WHCA Board and our committees to identify priorities and execute strategies to achieve those goals.

You can rest assured the WHCA team and I are very committed to you, and we continue to work with great diligence to ensure Washington policymakers understand that the long term care sectors of skilled nursing and assisted living are at a critical juncture. Partnering with you is an essential and important ingredient to this work. We rely on your ongoing support and advocacy to help ensure legislators and policymakers hear your compelling stories. It’s our job to help you successfully connect, and that work starts today with this call to action for communication to the Governor’s Office.

I am thankful to have been fully engaged in WHCA’s legislative and policy work for the past six years, alongside Robin Dale, Lauri St. Ours, Jeff Gombosky, and Bill Ulrich. Robin’s well-deserved retirement did not interrupt our work. Since the Legislature adjourned in March 2022, we have worked relentlessly to shape 2023 legislative and policy initiatives that will support and advance our members.

Our immediate focus has been on the development of the State Medicaid budget for the upcoming two-year period. We have worked in strong collaboration with the Department and LeadingAge Washington and have used this presentation to brief top leaders at DSHS. This same information is being shared with legislators and other agency personnel.

Our message is clear—years of chronic Medicaid funding shortfalls and a 32-month (and counting) public health emergency are driving a staffing crisis that is immediate, unreimbursed, and threatens the viability of Washington’s health care system at a time when Washingtonians will need long term care the most.

DSHS recognizes the gravity of the problem and in late September submitted a budget recommendation to the Office of Financial Management that would drive over $540 million to base Medicaid rates for skilled nursing and assisted living centers. From here, the Governor’s Office of Financial Management (OFM) will determine the funding that will be included in the Governor’s budget proposal, the first of three proposals that will be considered by the Legislature. The Governor’s budget is due to the public in December. Click here for our joint letter to the Director of OFM related to our budget priorities. There is no guarantee that the Governor will support the DSHS recommendations. Despite the state’s current, positive economic circumstances, the competition for resources is great, and the talk of a potential recession is growing. We must make a very strong case, and still may not receive funding at the DSHS-recommended level.

We will continue to meet with the Governor’s budget staff to make the strong case for funding. We must also count on our members to communicate directly with the Governor and legislators about the critical need for funding.

We have a short two-month window to drive a strong message to the Governor, and I truly appreciate your support in making that happen.

We are also working on policy initiatives important to our members. We will be seeking legislative support to take a hard look at agency staffing in long term care and other health care settings. We continue to be concerned about the lack of regulation and the steep increase in costs related to these services, and believe the state has a compelling reason to closely review actions of these providers during the pandemic.

We will also be working to support initiatives to improve the pipeline of long term care workers and will look for opportunities to address the issues our members identify as particularly challenging. I am excited about addressing those challenges—and will be relying on our members to keep me updated.

Let us lock arms and start strong. Please join me in urging Governor Inslee to fund the Department’s proposal for long term care in his budget. Click here to send that message today. It will take less than five minutes of your time. Please encourage your staff, colleagues, and friends to join with us in sending a message to Olympia. Our seniors and their caregivers must be a priority.

We will continue to keep you updated about the focus of our legislative work—the Capitol Update will be issued weekly during the 2023 session, which starts in January, and as needed to inform you about our work in Olympia.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you’d like to share information and observations to help inform my work for you.