The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said the healthcare workforce crisis is one of his priorities in 2023. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) told attendees at the Families USA conference last week he is especially concerned about the cost of contract nurses, according to a report in Inside Health Policy.
“There is a crisis in the healthcare workforce,” Wyden said. “Do you guys follow this traveling nurse scandal? What a mess — the system is broken. We’re desperately lacking for people. And I’m telling you, I think some of these corporate profits — record health care profits — ought to be used to bolster the workforce that makes it possible for them to have those profits. We’re going to pursue it.”
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the workforce shortage and forced many providers to use traveling or contract workers to meet patient demand while staff was sidelined by the virus. In the first quarter of last year, national home health firms LHC Group and Amedisys both said increased costs from contract nurses eroded earnings.
Late last summer, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the Hospice Action Network backed legislation calling for a study examining the financial impact traveling nurses were having on the healthcare industry. The study aimed to investigate traveling nurse agency practices, including potential price gouging and excessive profitability.
While the workforce crisis has eased since the height of the pandemic, it still remains the most challenging headwind for the healthcare industry. In a recent report by McKinsey & Company, the business consulting firm revised downward profit pool projections for the healthcare industry. McKinsey estimated the industry will grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4% versus 6% from 2021 to 2025.
