As part of Mass Senior Care Association’s ongoing efforts to support our workforce, we are pleased to inform you that Governor Baker has announced an implementation plan for the $460 million COVID-19 Essential Employee Premium Pay Program for low-income workers. This premium pay program, which nursing facility workers will be eligible for, will provide a $500 bonus payment to lower-income staff who worked during the COVID-19 state of emergency that began in 2020.
Mass Senior Care has prepared a one-page summary of the program that we encourage you to share with your staff. Please click here to download the summary.
In addition to the $25 million nursing facility workforce recruitment retention funding and the $25 million nursing facility capital improvement program, the essential premium pay program was a priority item Mass Senior Care advocated for in the state’s COVID-19 recovery bill enacted last December. Mass Senior Care will continue its efforts to ensure that nursing facilities have adequate resources to provide quality care.