Over the next 25 years, Wisconsin’s population is projected to decline, however, the population of those aged 65 and over will increase.
The simple reality is there will be an increasing demand for services by people 65+ in the coming years. Services for older adults, such as assisted living, will be harder to provide as there will be fewer working-age people.
A recent report from Forward Analytics (September 2024): “On the Brink: Probing the Coming Senior Care Challenges 1 ,” asks the question, “is Wisconsin on the verge of a crisis?” According to the report, “Should these trends continue, Wisconsin would need to increase aging care infrastructure by about 33,000 total beds by 2030 to accommodate the increased number of seniors. During the following decade, another 26,500 would need to be added. Combined, the 59,500 beds that might be needed constitute a 76% increase over 2023.”
Adding to our state’s challenges is that a growing number of seniors are having to rely on Family Care to obtain their long-term care services. Family Care is a Medicaid long- term care program for older adults and adults with disabilities.
Wisconsin assisted living providers have already for years been facing a staffing shortage crisis, a situation that has in the past been exacerbated by the inadequate funding of the Family Care program.
The state legislature in 2017, and in subsequent state budgets, responded by creating the Direct Care Workforce Funding Initiative 2 that allows for a payment mechanism to help address caregiver workforce challenges in the state.
Still, the Family Care program needs major overhauls in its design, including the ability to recognize and react in a timely manner to changes in the economy, such as labor market trends and inflation on goods and services.
As an example, in the last biennial budget (2023), the budgetary assumptions specified that the average caregiver wage in Family Care was $13.02 per hour – even though the consensus among providers was that starting wages were in actuality closer to $17.75 per hour.
