| The Wage Equity Worksheet is to be completed and submitted to the department by 9/1/2023. The Department has a Secure Managed File Transfer account available for facilities and consultants to upload documents securely https://mft.wa.gov/webclient/Login.xhtml. This site works with Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome browser. If a username is needed or password reset, send an email request to NFRates@dshs.wa.gov . Please add the facility specific vendor number on the end of file name. For example DSHSWageEquityFundingWorksheetFY23Final_4111111.xlsx |
During the 2022 Legislative Session a wage equity add-on was funded. The intent of this is to raise the wages of low wage direct care employees and certain low wage indirect care employees of nursing facilities. The Legislature directed the Department to develop a verification process with respect to these funds, with input from stakeholders.
Wage Equity Worksheet (Updated 8/29/2023)
January Wage Equity Funding (updated 12/20/22)
Wage Equity Funding Verification CR-101
2022 Supplemental Budget, wage equity add-on language below
How to calculate Average Wage
To spend the money provided for both Direct and Indirect Care the provider must show that the “average wage” rate increased using December 2021 as the base period and July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023, as the monitoring period. The “average wage” is the base average hourly wage and does not include overtime wages or fixed fee bonuses. The “average wage” does include shift differentials and other amounts paid on an hourly basis. Consider the following amounts paid to a fictional worker:
Base Wage @ $20/hr for 50 hours = $1,000 [50 hours * $20/hr]
Half time for over 40 hours / week = $100 [10 hours * $10/hr]
Shift Differential for weekend [paid as $2/hr * 16 hours]
Sign on bonus = $1,000 [paid as flat amount after 90 days]
To calculate the average wage the provider should use the base wage and the shift differential = $1,032 [$1,000+$32] and divide by hours worked [50 hours] for an “average wage” of $20.64.
The same calculation would be used during the entire monitoring period.
ESSB 5693 Sec. 204
(53) $24,138,000 of the general fund—state appropriation for fiscal year 2023 and $24,138,000 of the general fund—federal appropriation are provided solely to increase skilled nursing facility medicaid rates in order to increase low-wage direct and indirect care worker wages by up to four dollars per hour effective July 1, 2022. Funding provided in this subsection is provided for purposes of wage equity.
(a) Of the amounts provided in this subsection, $21,910,000 of the general fund—state appropriation for fiscal year 2023 and $21,910,000 of the general fund—federal appropriation are provided solely to increase the fixed rate paid for direct care to no less than 111 percent of statewide case mix neutral median costs to increase low-wage direct care worker wages by up to four dollars per hour effective July 1, 2022. For the purpose of this subsection, "low-wage direct care workers" means certified nursing assistants, dietary workers, laundry workers, and other workers who provide direct care to patients and who have no managerial roles. The department shall determine each facility-specific wage equity funding amount in the direct care rate component by comparing the rate at 105 percent of the direct care median to the rate at 111 percent of the direct care median, and by multiplying the rate difference by the actual paid medicaid days over the July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023 period.
(b) Of the amounts provided in this subsection, $2,229,000 of the general fund—state appropriation for fiscal year 2023 and $2,228,000 of the general fund—federal appropriation are provided solely to increase the fixed rate paid for indirect care to no less than 92 percent of statewide median costs to increase low-wage indirect care worker wages by up to four dollars per hour effective July 1, 2022. For the purpose of this subsection, "low-wage indirect care workers" means central supply workers and housekeeping workers. The department shall determine each facility-specific wage equity funding amount for the indirect care rate component by comparing the rate at 90 percent of the indirect care median to the rate at 92 percent of the indirect care median, and by multiplying the rate difference by the actual paid medicaid days over the July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023 period.
(c) Working with stakeholders, the department shall develop and adopt rules to establish a verification process for each skilled nursing facility provider to demonstrate how the provider has used its wage equity funding to increase wages for low-wage workers by up to four dollars per hour, and for the department to recover any funding difference between each provider's wage equity funding and the amount of wage equity funding that the provider utilizes to increase low-wage worker wages. The verification process must use wages paid as of December 31, 2021, as the base wage to compare providers' wage spending in the designated job categories to the facility-specific amounts of wage equity funding provided in (a) and (b) of this subsection, excluding any amounts adjusted by settlement. The verification and recovery process in this subsection is a distinct and separate process from the settlement process described in RCW 74.46.022.
(d) It is the intent of the legislature that wage equity funding provided in this subsection be carried forward into the department's appropriation for the 2023-2025 fiscal biennium.