Democratic lawmakers are calling out hovering govt compensation at three for-profit nursing dwelling suppliers, because the trade fights new minimal staffing necessities that apply to just about each facility in america.
The manager pay was revealed in a letter despatched Friday night to the CEOs of Brookdale Senior Dwelling, Nationwide HealthCare and Ensign Group. Signed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Unwell.), it was first shared with The Hill.
Over the previous 5 years, the three corporations collectively paid their prime executives and administrators over $250 million, ballooning from $36.9 million in 2019 to almost $66.8 million in 2023, in keeping with the lawmakers’ evaluation.
Ensign accounted for the overwhelming majority of that improve, the lawmakers discovered, as compensation greater than doubled to $50.2 million for 5 executives and 5 administrators in 2023 from $24.4 million for 5 executives and 6 administrators in 2019.
The Biden administration unveiled the brand new necessities in April over opposition from the nursing dwelling trade and lawmakers on either side of the aisle. Critics argue the federal customary is simply too costly and onerous because the trade struggles to get well from the pandemic, doubtlessly forcing services to shutter.
Within the letter, the Democratic lawmakers pushed again on three critics of the brand new necessities, declaring that govt pay at Brookdale Senior Dwelling, Nationwide HealthCare and Ensign Group has elevated “while at the same time claiming that you cannot afford to meet new minimum staffing requirements.”
“New revelations that your companies collectively increased their executive pay by nearly 25 percent just last year, combined with the record-high profits your companies touted in the first two quarters of 2024, reveal once again that you have plenty of money available to provide high-quality care – but instead are using it to enrich yourselves and other executives,” the lawmakers wrote.
Seven Brookdale executives and 7 administrators collectively made almost $10.9 million final 12 months, up from $6.9 million between 5 executives and 9 administrators in 2019. 5 administrators and 7 executives at Nationwide HealthCare obtained $5.7 million in 2023, up from $5.6 million in 2019.
Govt pay made up just about all the overall compensation, with complete pay to administrators every of those years accounting for round $1 million or much less, a Warren spokesperson mentioned.
The lawmakers known as it “insulting” that the for-profit nursing dwelling trade “appears to prefer lining the pockets of its executives and shareholders rather than creating sustainable working conditions for nurses and staff,” and urged the businesses to “rethink your opposition to this rule.
When reached for remark, a Brookdale spokesperson offered excerpts from the corporate’s response to a letter Warren and different lawmakers despatched in Might after discovering these three corporations paid out a mixed $650 million in dividends, buybacks and compensation to prime executives between 2018 and 2022.
Chad White, Brookdale’s govt vp, common counsel and secretary, pushed again on “inaccurate” statements by the lawmakers, saying the corporate “has not issued a dividend to shareholders since 2008” and that its “last share repurchase occurred in March 2020, at the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Importantly (and contrary to the assertions in your letter), our concerns in this regard are not related to potential direct financial impacts on Brookdale’s skilled nursing business, particularly given the very small portion of our business that is comprised of skilled nursing,” White wrote within the letter.
Neither Ensign nor Nationwide HealthCare responded to requests for remark.
In line with an American Well being Care Affiliation (AHCA) survey of 441 nursing dwelling suppliers launched in March, 99 p.c of nursing properties had open jobs, with 89 p.c hiring for registered nurse positions.
The survey additionally discovered 72 p.c of nursing properties say their present staffing ranges are decrease than they had been earlier than the pandemic.
“[T]he rule does nothing to help solve the challenges our country is facing with regard to our growing senior population,” White wrote in Might, calling on the Biden administration to work “with Congress to fund and support initiatives to expand the healthcare workforce that specializes in providing care and services to seniors, including private pay senior living providers.”
The lawmakers mentioned of their new letter that “this industry argument ignores the fact that the primary problem appears to be that nurses in nursing homes are not being paid enough.”
On common, nursing properties flip over half their workers inside a 12 months, the Financial Coverage Institute assume tank famous in its public touch upon the proposed rule final November, cited by the lawmakers.
“Without a national staffing minimum in place, the for-profit nursing home industry can continue to shovel profits to its executives and shareholders at the expense of patient lives,” the Democrats wrote.
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