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Starting next year, the minimum wage for veterans’ healthcare providers, including home care aides, will be $15 an hour.

Last week, the Biden administration disclosed its final rule directing federal contractors, who encompass VA healthcare providers, to pay their workers the new high minimum wage. The final rule follows the administration’s notice of proposed rulemaking in July. It is expected to affect more than 327,000 workers.

The new minimum wage for federal contract workers begins on Jan. 30, 2022, and will be indexed for inflation.  

“The fact is government workers are essential workers and critical to the federal government,” Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh said in comments about the final rule. “They clean and maintain federal buildings, keeping us safe. They provide healthcare for veterans and childcare for our kids. They provide food services for military families, and they repair roads and bridges, and so much more.”

There recently has been a strong federal movement to boost the minimum wage. Biden pushed to include it in the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief legislation, but the Senate rejected it. The last time there was a change in the minimum wage was 2009. The wage became $7.25 an hour, which stands to this day. But many states and cities have higher minimum wages.