(1) (a) The executive director shall, by rule, establish a process for eligible nursing facility providers to apply for a local minimum wage enhancement payment whenever a local government increases its minimum wage above the statewide minimum wage. If a local government increases its minimum wage above the statewide minimum wage, the general assembly shall appropriate enough money to the state department to cover the local minimum wage enhancement payment for all eligible nursing facility providers. Any payment made pursuant to this section must not occur until the local government minimum wage law takes effect.
(b) The rules must provide:
That wage enhancement payments are available to any eligible nursing facility provider; and
The form and manner in which an eligible nursing facility provider may apply to thestate department for wage enhancement payments. The form must require the eligible nursing facility provider to demonstrate the difference between the actual wages of nursing facility provider employees at the time the local government wage increase goes into effect and the locally enacted minimum wage.
Subject to available appropriations, a local minimum wage enhancement paymentshall be calculated and paid to eligible nursing facility providers by determining the total amount of funding needed to increase the minimum wage of all employees at an eligible nursing facility provider to the locally enacted minimum wage multiplied by the factor of the medicaid census of each provider.
(a) Subject to available appropriations, for the purpose of reimbursing an eligible nursing facility provider for a local minimum wage enhancement payment, the state department shall establish and annually readjust a payment schedule.
(b) To request a local minimum wage enhancement payment, an eligible nursing facility shall annually submit:
The difference between the actual wage rate of nursing facility provider employeesand the local minimum wage rate applicable to those nursing facility provider employees who are eligible for an increased local minimum wage rate. A nursing facility provider employee's wage rate must equal or exceed the minimum wage rate required by state or federal law.
The number of eligible nursing facility provider employees by provider, current wage rate of the employees, and wage rate of the employees after a local minimum wage law goes into effect.
(c) An eligible nursing facility provider shall submit an application with the information required in this section for each year in which the eligible nursing facility provider seeks a local minimum wage enhancement payment.
A local minimum wage enhancement payment made pursuant to this section is ineffect as long as the local minimum wage applicable to eligible nursing facility provider employees performing work within the local jurisdiction exceeds the statewide minimum wage.
(a) An eligible nursing facility provider that receives a local minimum wage enhancement payment pursuant to this section shall:
Use the payments only to increase the compensation for eligible nursing facility provider employees and not for any other expenditures; and
Track and report how the payments are used for eligible nursing facility employeeson an annual basis.
The executive director may request information from a nursing facility provider thatreceives a local minimum wage enhancement payment under this section regarding the use of such payment.
If an eligible nursing facility provider does not use one hundred percent of the localminimum wage enhancement payment received pursuant to this section to increase the compensation for the eligible nursing facility provider's employees, the executive director may recoup any or all of the improperly used payments. The executive director may promulgate rules for the notification, violation, and process regarding an eligible nursing facility's improper use of local minimum wage enhancement payments.
(6) Payments received under this section shall offset costs reported on the med-13 cost report when calculating nursing facility provider per diem reimbursement under 10 CCR 2505.
Source: L. 2019: Entire section added, (HB 19-1210), ch. 320, p. 2976, § 7, effective January 1, 2020.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 19-1210, see section 1 of chapter 320, Session Laws of Colorado 2019.