In the near future, I will introduce legislation aimed at establishing a minimum threshold for the Budget Adjustment Factor (BAF), which plays a crucial role in determining how the funds allocated by the General Assembly are distributed to nursing homes that provide long-term care services to individuals that rely on Medical Assistance to pay for their care. 
 
Currently, Pennsylvania’s skilled nursing facilities are forced to operate quarter by quarter, held captive by a BAF, which is set by the Department of Human Services based on a formula contained in the approved state plan. In recent months, the BAF - based on a number of factors - dipped as low as .78.
 
However, if the legislature were to set a minimum BAF floor at .90 and fund the system accordingly, operators would have more predictability regarding the resources they will receive. This would allow them to make essential investments in their facilities and workforce with confidence—benefiting seniors, healthcare workers, and our economy as a whole.
 
My legislation would set that floor and fund the system to meet the needs of our long-term care continuum.
 
Fewer than 5% of the General Assembly members serving today voted to establish the BAF nearly twenty years ago as a way to control state budgetary costs to nursing homes. Yet each year, we invest billions of dollars into senior care without addressing the system that actually directs those dollars.
 
Please join me in co-sponsoring this legislation, which will bring greater transparency, stability, and adequate funding for long-term care facilities across the Commonwealth.

Statutes/Laws affected:
Printer's No. 849 (May 29, 2025): P.L.343, No.176