Oklahoma on Monday approved a nearly $29 million Medicaid funding increase for nursing homes attracting additional federal dollars to improve provider rates. It’s unclear if the rate increase would be enough to meet the upcoming federal minimum staffing standard.

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority Board (OHCA) approved the increase after the 2024 legislature called on the board to appropriate $30 million to improve rates, according to a report from KGOU. The increase puts more than $100 million toward nursing homes in the state.

About 70% of this funding will support direct care, or the sum of salaries and benefits for registered nurses (RNs), directors of nursing, licensed professional nurses (LPNs) certified nurse aides (CNAs), certified medication aides, therapy aides and assistants, KGOU reported.

The remaining 30% will go toward other costs.

Average rate per resident per day will increase from $224.64 to $244.78, KGOU found, broken down by a nursing home base rate component, as well as a pay for performance component to incentivize meeting four quality care measures. There was no increase in the incentive component, with providers only able to get up to $5 per resident per day, depending on whether facilities meet each measure.

The two other components in calculating Medicaid rates in the state is an “other cost component” bumped up from $18.32 to $24.30 per resident per day, and a direct care cost component that varies by facility based on direct care expenditures, the outlet reported.

In the past five years, nursing home operators in Oklahoma saw an average increase of $65 per resident per day. The average Medicaid rate was $179.57 per resident per day in 2021, according to KGOU.