As a former member of the Maine Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee, I am deeply troubled by the escalating rate of closures and conversions of long-term care facilities in our state. Over the past decade, approximately 50 facilities, including 23 nursing homes, have shuttered their doors or downsized their services. Although this problem is worsening, it’s been a long time coming; when I served in the legislature from 1998 to 2006, we worked to address this concern. Urgent action by Gov. Mills and Maine’s Legislature is needed now.

Maine, as the oldest state in the nation, isn’t just on the brink of a crisis; the crisis is here. With nearly 70% of older adults likely to require long-term care services at some point in their lives, the declining access to these services is deeply concerning. Counties like Washington and Hancock are now left without a single nursing home, leaving some residents and families distressed and forcing others to travel long distances for care.

The root cause of these closures is clear: inadequate reimbursement rates, soaring inflation levels, and rising costs. Maine’s long-term care facilities are struggling to stay afloat financially, unable to cover the costs of providing quality care to our loved ones and fair wages to the skilled workers who support them.

The ripple effects of these closures extend far and wide into every part of the state. Mainers are left languishing in hospitals for months, awaiting increasingly scarce long-term care placements. This strains our healthcare system and undermines the well-being of individuals needing specialized care.

While the legislature has allocated one-time supplemental funding, the persistent rate of closures indicates that this approach needs to be revised. Maine’s long-term care sector faces a staggering shortfall of over $120 million, a deficit that cannot be ignored. Chronic underfunding and staffing shortages are crippling our ability to provide essential care to our aging population.

L.D. 451, aimed at collecting data on temporary nurse agency staffing costs, is a step in the right direction.

However, it is merely a band-aid solution to a much larger problem. The solution to this crisis is clear: we must increase MaineCare reimbursement rates to reflect the cost of providing quality long-term care. With federal matching funds available, the state can leverage additional resources to address the funding shortfall and ensure the sustainability of our long-term care system.

Moreover, we must invest in strategies to recruit and retain qualified direct care workers. By offering competitive wages and benefits, we can attract skilled professionals to the field and mitigate the reliance on costly agency labor.

Inaction is not an option. The time to act is now before more long-term care facilities close their doors and more Mainers are left without access to essential services.

As a former policymaker, I implore our legislators and Gov. Mills to prioritize long-term care funding and enact meaningful reforms to safeguard the health and dignity of our aging population. Our loved ones deserve nothing less.

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