HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	5
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the centers for medicare and medicaid services to increase the monetary compensation received by health care workers whose positions and services are funded under the medicare program.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, health care workers are essential to a functioning society, but are too often overworked and underpaid; and

 

     WHEREAS, the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic brought into sharper focus the importance of health care workers and the dysfunction and collapse that can occur when there are not enough health care workers to provide care to patients in a timely manner; and

 

     WHEREAS, although health care workers in America are viewed in a positive light, and even regarded as "health care heroes" for tolerating difficult working conditions such as spending long hours away from their families to cover understaffed hospitals and health care facilities, many health care workers have left their jobs prematurely due to exhaustion and professional burnout; and

 

     WHEREAS, the nationwide shortage of health care workers is exacerbated by the United States' rapidly growing population of older adults; and

 

     WHEREAS, the United States Census Bureau has projected that by 2034, older adults will outnumber children for the first time in the nation's history; more specifically, it is expected that people age sixty-five and older will number seventy-seven million, while children under age eighteen will number 76.5 million; further, it is estimated that by 2060, nearly one in four Americans will be age sixty-five and older, the number of Americans age eighty-five and older will triple, and the number of centenarians will reach a half-million; and

 

     WHEREAS, our aging population means that demand for health care workers and the essential services they provide will also grow, particularly with respect to in-home caregiving, assisted living facilities, skilled nursing, and hospice care; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provides coverage for certain caregiving services under Medicare Part A, which relates to hospital insurance, and Medicare Part B, which relates to medical insurance; and

 

     WHEREAS, an important way in which the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could address the nation's health care worker shortage before the situation dramatically worsens is by ensuring that health care workers who are compensated through the Medicare program receive a higher level of compensation that properly reflects their specialized skill set, expertise, and essential role in society; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, the Senate concurring, that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are requested to increase the monetary compensation received by health care workers whose positions and services are funded under the Medicare program; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to each member of Hawaii's congressional delegation, and to the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Medicare; Health Care Worker Compensation