Independent Study Suggests Pay Hike for Senior Care and Disability Services

A new study is recommending the state vastly increase spending on care for the elderly and people with disabilities.

On Oct. 7, the Oregon Department of Human Services distributed a preliminary version of the anticipated “wage and rate study,” which was requested by the legislature last year and performed by health policy consulting firm Burns & Associates.

The study recommends substantial increases across the board in payments for elder care and disability services, including 30–45% increases in in-home attendant care and a 13% increase in rates for memory care facilities. Oregon already pays workers in this industry more than almost any other state (20% more than the national average, according to one of the study’s authors, Stephen Pawlowski).

The state is now requesting public comment on the findings prior to publishing a final version of the study at the end of the year. It will be up to legislators to decide whether to fund it, a DHS spokeswoman tells WW.

Service Employees International Union, which represents many of these workers, was critical of the study despite the pay bumps. “While some parts look good on the surface, the study’s methodology is flawed. Additionally, recommendations to increase payments to private companies without considering profits are absurd,” said spokesperson Pati Urias. “Throughout this process, we advocated for the state to consider company profits in rate-setting, but this was ignored.”

This is the first study of its kind in Oregon in decades. DHS previously commissioned a similar study for disability services. But it’s been “more than 20 years since there has been a comprehensive review of payment rates for [Aging and People with Disabilities] services,” Pawlowski told legislators last summer.

The result has been widely disparate pay for similar services paid for by different divisions with DHS—disparities that have only heightened in recent years. Nursing facility rates have increased by two-thirds in the last five years, while rates for adult foster homes have increased only 36 percent.