With the retirement of Mt. Lebanon state representative and Minority Whip Dan Miller — he is running for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas judge this November — Pennsylvanians with intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/A), along with those who care for them, are losing a champion.

Happily, however, two other Pittsburgh region legislators are stepping into the breach: Reps. Jessica Benham, D-South Side, and Jason Ortitay, R-Cecil.

We urge more members of the House, from both parties, to join them.

The problem, which the Post-Gazette Editorial Board has chronicled for years, is that Pennsylvania’s reimbursement rate for caregivers — known as direct support professionals, or DSPs — is far too low. This makes it difficult for care provider organizations to recruit and, crucially, retain reliable and compassionate workers, which in turn means that thousands of people with ID/A are on a long waiting list for services to which they are, in theory, entitled.

This doesn’t just affect those on the list, but their families, as well. More than three years ago, we discussed the story of Sandi Shaffer, a Westmoreland County woman who lost her job then her home due to the 24/7 care she had to provide for her daughter Kate, who is nonverbal. Kate was receiving care in a youth residential facility until she aged out, but there weren’t enough DSPs in her region to provide in-home care. So she was added to the years-long waiting list — which was years too long.

Ms. Shaffer is far from alone. While modest improvements in DSP pay have shortened the wait list, it remains over 12,000 people long, with 4,000 presenting with emergency needs.

This is a hidden crisis. But there is a direct and achievable solution: increase DSP wages so providers can attract and retain more workers, and more people can receive the care they are owed.

The best way to reach long-term stability for the system of care for people with ID/A is to index DSP wages to inflation, on an annual basis. Right now, state regulations require an administrative panel to assess reimbursement rates every three years, but that system has several problems.

First, the new wages don’t go into effect until the next year, already placing them behind the market. Second, they tend not to keep up with inflation — Ms. Benham and Mr. Ortitay report that the most recent increase, last year, lagged inflation by 3% to 4%. Third, the rates are locked in for three years, which means hard-working DSPs and overstretched care providers are stuck with lowball reimbursements for that long.

The Benham-Ortitay bill, following up on Mr. Miller’s work, would ensure that DSP rates automatically increase annually along with inflation, with no bureaucratic intervention required. This would provide the kind of funding stability that providers and caregivers have long desired, allowing them to commit more time and resources to their work. This will allow the state to continue to whittle down its ridiculous waiting list, so eventually every eligible person is receiving quality care.

There are various subsidies and benefits and programs in Pennsylvania’s budget that should be questioned, and possibly zeroed out, to stabilize the Commonwealth’s finances. But funding for care for people with ID/A is a moral imperative: The goodness of our governance is judged, first and foremost, by how we care for those who cannot care for themselves.

— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via TNS