A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR LABOR ENHANCEMENT PAYMENTS FOR NURSE AIDES IN NONINSTITUTIONAL SETTINGS, as recommended by the north carolina study commission on aging.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services the sum of fifty‑one million five hundred eighty‑three thousand seven hundred twenty‑four dollars ($51,583,724) for the 2005‑2006 fiscal year and the sum of sixty‑one million eight hundred sixty‑six thousand five hundred eighty‑nine dollars ($61,866,589) for the 2006‑2007 fiscal year.  These funds shall be used to match federal Medicaid funds to provide a thirty‑two and seven hundredths percent (32.07%) labor enhancement payment for Medicaid‑reimbursed long‑term care services.  These funds shall be in addition to funds provided for routine inflationary increases in Medicaid reimbursements for long‑term care services.  The funds appropriated in this act shall be used only to increase wages or benefits for long‑term care aide workers in noninstitutional settings, or to provide for shift differential payments for long‑term care aides in noninstitutional settings who work during hard‑to‑fill working hours or shifts. Counties shall not be required to pay any of the funds required to match the federal Medicaid funds for the labor enhancement payments authorized by this act.
SECTION 2.  Funds appropriated in this act shall be allocated in accordance with the following:
(1)	The amount of the labor enhancement benefit shall be allocated equitably among the various care settings.
(2)	Long‑term care facilities and agencies that receive labor enhancement funds shall have the flexibility to determine whether labor enhancement funds are used for wages, benefits, or shift differentials, or any combination thereof.
(3)	If labor enhancement funds are used to enhance wages, the long‑term care facility or agency shall determine which aides receive wage increases and the amount of the increase provided. The determination shall be based on local market wage demands, rewarding longevity of service by the worker, and other wage‑related needs of the agency or facility.
(4)	Long‑term care facilities and agencies that receive labor enhancement funds shall, as a condition of receiving the funds, submit reports and information required by the Department for the purpose of verifying use of the labor enhancement funds. Reports and information provided by facilities and agencies shall include for each facility and agency information needed to determine annual labor turnover rates in the agency or facility, including data on prelabor enhancement turnover rates and turnover rates at the end of each fiscal year for which labor enhancement funds are received.
SECTION 3.  Not later than January 15, 2007, the Department of Health and Human Services shall report to the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services, and the North Carolina Study Commission on Aging on the use of labor enhancement funds appropriated under this act.  The report shall include detailed information on:
(1)	The amount of funds used for wages, for benefits, and for shift differentials.
(2)	Comparative information on average hourly wages paid to aides and turnover rates by setting for fiscal year 1999‑2000 through fiscal year 2005‑2006.
SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2005.