Finally.
After more than eight months of delays caused by both the Trump administration and state officials, the federal government on Tuesday approved an unprecedented plan under which Minnesota will put Medicaid money toward paying nursing home workers a minimum wage.
Per the agreement, $36 million in Medicaid dollars (half from the feds, half from the state) will be used to establish the wage floor.
Under rules hammered out by the Minnesota Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board, all nursing home workers will get at least $19 an hour for the remainder of this year and $20.50 per hour starting in 2027. Workers with nursing certificates get more.
Unions cheered the announcement.
“We are grateful to the Minnesota Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board for making these historic wage increases happen for nursing home workers,” said Rasha Ahmad Sharif, director of the nursing home sector for SEIU Health Care Minnesota and Iowa. “These workers are a lifeline to our elders and most vulnerable residents, and they deserve financial peace of mind so they can provide the best care possible”
Related: Trump administration temporarily blocks Minnesota’s historic wage floor for nursing home workers
The Long-Term Care Imperative, which represents nursing home operators, did not return a request for comment as of midday Friday.
The industry group filed a lawsuit in March to get rid of the Workforce Standards Board. However, nursing home operators have indicated that they would follow the wage rules even as they pursue legal action.
One pressing concern for both labor and industry is whether the new wage floor begins in September or 30 days after federal approval, or whether it is applied retroactively.
The rule the Workforce Standards Board passed said that the wages would go into effect Jan. 1.
However, the state’s Department of Human Services, which administers the purse strings for Medicaid, was months late in filing the necessary paperwork with the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Then, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services extended the review period for 90 days after the agency had questions about Minnesota’s plan.
Related: Minnesota nursing homes fed up as they await federal backing of pay hike
State officials had not answered questions by Friday about whether the wage floor would be applied retroactively.
The Legislature in May greenlit a $9.5 million pot for nursing home workers paid out in $3,000 checks so as to make up for not getting wage bumps at the start of the year.
Payment rules for a specific industry of workers is a creature of the 2023 “trifecta” where the DFL Party controlled the governor’s office and both legislative chambers. DFLers were lobbied by SEIU Health Care Minnesota & Iowa to create a state board around the conditions of nursing home workers, the lowest paid group among the industries that the union represented.
The final legislation, written by Rep. Esther Agbaje, DFL-Minneapolis, created a Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board
For certified nursing assistants, the minimum wage is $22.50 per hour, jumping to $24 an hour in 2027. Trained medication aides, certified nurses with additional training to administer medicines, get $23.50 beginning in January and $25 in 2027.
The highest wage floor is for licensed practical nurses, who can also administer medications as well as advise patients and families on care options. They are set to make at least $27 in 2026, and $28.50 the year after that.
Related: Late lobbying push yields $9.5 million for Minnesota nursing home worker bonuses
The state’s approximate 330 nursing homes are adopting this new rule even as their trade association is trying to eliminate the Workforce Standards Board.
A lawsuit filed in March by the Long-Term Care Imperative claimed that nursing home operators essentially bargain against themselves on the nine-member workforce board, which includes three representatives from employers, three from labor and three from Gov. Tim Walz’s administration. Operators point out that Walz and the unions have voted in lockstep, effectively voiding their voice.
State officials moved to dismiss the lawsuit and federal Judge Nancy Brasel heard oral arguments in May. Brasel has yet to make a ruling.
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