As a Colorado constituent, I am reaching out to ask you to support increases in Medicaid reimbursement for services in the home. Home-based care allows people of all ages with special health needs to continue living in their homes and avoid costly hospital and/or nursing homestays. During the pandemic, this care has become even more critical because it allows patients, including COVID-19 patients, to stay safe in their homes and out of crowded hospitals and nursing homes. As with other industries, the pandemic hit home health care agencies and their workers hard. This field is almost exclusively staffed by women, who have also largely shouldered the burden of caring for sick family members and organizing remote learning for their children. At the same time, COVID-19 has created financial and staffing hurdles for agencies as they pay the increased costs of staff training, expensive and hard-to-find personal protective equipment, and compensation to staff for the increased risks associated with serving COVID patients. In addition, during the pandemic, many agencies faced sudden and drastic losses of revenue. These challenges have been exacerbated by the impact of state and local minimum wage increases, as well as the increased costs of doing business resulting from state and federal requirements to use electronic visit verification to log patient encounters, in real-time. These agencies need your help to continue to provide the important care they provide in Colorado, particularly to vulnerable Medicaid patients. I am asking you to support home-based care by approving: • $10.9 million general funds for home health to increase reimbursement rates to 90% of Medicare LUPA. This rate increase is long overdue. The longer the Colorado Legislature delays action on this recommendation, the more our state loses agencies who provide this critical care, and the more we see costs increase in other, more expensive areas of the healthcare system. Increases for private duty nursing, including: • $1.3 million general funds to increase rates for LPNs • $2 million general funds to increase rates for RNs In addition, $14.5 million general funds to increase personal care and homemaker rates for HCBS. These increases are necessary to maintain access to home-based services and to recruit and retain nurses and personal care workers. Coloradans deserve access to safe, cost-effective home health and personal care.

As a Colorado constituent, I am reaching out to ask you to support increases in Medicaid reimbursement for services in the home. Home-based care allows people of all ages with special health needs to continue living in their homes and avoid costly hospital and/or nursing homestays. During the pandemic, this care has become even more critical because it allows patients, including COVID-19 patients, to stay safe in their homes and out of crowded hospitals and nursing homes. As with other industries, the pandemic hit home health care agencies and their workers hard. This field is almost exclusively staffed by women, who have also largely shouldered the burden of caring for sick family members and organizing remote learning for their children. At the same time, COVID-19 has created financial and staffing hurdles for agencies as they pay the increased costs of staff trainings, expensive and hard-to-find personal protective equipment, and compensation to staff for the increased risks associated with serving COVID patients. In addition, during the pandemic, many agencies faced sudden and drastic losses of revenue. These challenges have been exacerbated by the impact of state and local minimum wage increases, as well as the increased costs of doing business resulting from state and federal requirements to use electronic visit verification to log patient encounters, in real-time. These agencies need your help to continue to provide the important care they provide in Colorado, particularly to vulnerable Medicaid patients. I am asking you to support home-based care by approving: • $10.9 million general funds for home health to increase reimbursement rates to 90% of Medicare LUPA. This rate increase is long overdue. The longer the Colorado Legislature delays action on this recommendation, the more our state loses agencies who provide this critical care, and the more we see costs increase in other, more expensive areas of the healthcare system. Increases for private duty nursing, including: • $1.3 million general funds to increase rates for LPNs • $2 million general funds to increase rates for RNs These increases are necessary to maintain access to home-based services and to recruit and retain nurses and personal care workers. Coloradans deserve access to safe, cost-effective home health and personal care.

As a Colorado constituent, I am reaching out to ask you to support increases in Medicaid reimbursement for services in the home. Home-based care allows people of all ages with special health needs to continue living in their homes and avoid costly hospital and/or nursing homestays. During the pandemic, this care has become even more critical because it allows patients, including COVID-19 patients, to stay safe in their homes and out of crowded hospitals and nursing homes. As with other industries, the pandemic hit home health care agencies and their workers hard. This field is almost exclusively staffed by women, who have also largely shouldered the burden of caring for sick family members and organizing remote learning for their children. At the same time, COVID-19 has created financial and staffing hurdles for agencies as they pay the increased costs of staff trainings, expensive and hard-to-find personal protective equipment, and compensation to staff for the increased risks associated with serving COVID patients. In addition, during the pandemic, many agencies faced sudden and drastic losses of revenue. These challenges have been exacerbated by the impact of state and local minimum wage increases, as well as the increased costs of doing business resulting from state and federal requirements to use electronic visit verification to log patient encounters, in real-time. These agencies need your help to continue to provide the important care they provide in Colorado, particularly to vulnerable Medicaid patients. I am asking you to support home-based care by approving: • $10.9 million general funds for home health to increase reimbursement rates to 90% of Medicare LUPA. This rate increase is long overdue. The longer the Colorado Legislature delays action on this recommendation, the more our state loses agencies who provide this critical care, and the more we see costs increase in other, more expensive areas of the healthcare system. Increases for private duty nursing, including: • $1.3 million general funds to increase rates for LPNs • $2 million general funds to increase rates for RNs These increases are necessary to maintain access to home-based services and to recruit and retain nurses and personal care workers. Coloradans deserve access to safe, cost-effective home health and personal care.

As a Colorado constituent, I am reaching out to ask you to support increases in Medicaid reimbursement for services in the home. Home-based care allows people of all ages with special health needs to continue living in their homes and avoid costly hospital and/or nursing homestays. During the pandemic, this care has become even more critical because it allows patients, including COVID-19 patients, to stay safe in their homes and out of crowded hospitals and nursing homes. As with other industries, the pandemic hit home health care agencies and their workers hard. This field is almost exclusively staffed by women, who have also largely shouldered the burden of caring for sick family members and organizing remote learning for their children. At the same time, COVID-19 has created financial and staffing hurdles for agencies as they pay the increased costs of staff trainings, expensive and hard-to-find personal protective equipment, and compensation to staff for the increased risks associated with serving COVID patients. In addition, during the pandemic, many agencies faced sudden and drastic losses of revenue. These challenges have been exacerbated by the impact of state and local minimum wage increases, as well as the increased costs of doing business resulting from state and federal requirements to use electronic visit verification to log patient encounters, in real-time. These agencies need your help to continue to provide the important care they provide in Colorado, particularly to vulnerable Medicaid patients. I am asking you to support home-based care by approving: • $10.9 million general funds for home health to increase reimbursement rates to 90% of Medicare LUPA. This rate increase is long overdue. The longer the Colorado Legislature delays action on this recommendation, the more our state loses agencies who provide this critical care, and the more we see costs increase in other, more expensive areas of the healthcare system. Increases for private duty nursing, including: • $1.3 million general funds to increase rates for LPNs • $2 million general funds to increase rates for RNs These increases are necessary to maintain access to home-based services and to recruit and retain nurses and personal care workers. Coloradans deserve access to safe, cost-effective home health and personal care.