ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Low Medicaid reimbursement rates are causing nurses in Colorado to seek higher-paying jobs, leaving families in vulnerable positions, according to a new report.

Amid crunching numbers and sending emails from the kitchen, Rod Schiller keeps an eye on his 13-year-old son, Luke, on a monitor.

Luke is hooked up to several machines in the bedroom.

“He does not eat without care. He doesn't go to the bathroom, you know, without help. He’s non-ambulatory. He can't turn over in the bed without somebody helping him. He is totally dependent on a good care provider,” Schiller said.

At one point, a machine beeps.

“His shaker just finished, so I’m going to do his cough assist,” Schiller explains.

Luke got his first home nurse when he was a toddler. Since then, it’s been a revolving door of nurses.

“We've had nurses that will stay two weeks, and they'll leave. Or we've had nurses that we want to leave,” said Schiller.

It’s a problem that’s only getting worse.

A new analysis done on behalf of the Home Care and Hospice Association of Colorado shows the state has some of the lowest reimbursement rates for private care nurses

Colorado’s Medicaid RN payment rate is $7.05 below the median. For licensed practical nurses, the rate is $9.04 below the median.

The analysis shows that Colorado needs a Medicaid rate increase of 37.8% for RNs and 52.1% for LPNs to attract sufficient private duty nurses...

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