​The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) sent a letter this week to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairwoman Lina Khan, requesting assistance with an anticompetitive practice with direct care staffing agencies.

In the letter, AHCA/NCAL President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Parkinson describes how the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred an unprecedented workforce crisis within the long term care sector.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nursing homes and residential-care facilities employed 3 million people in July, down 380,000 workers from February 2020. Providers are doing all that they can to hire and recruit workers, including sign-on bonuses, wage increases, and referral bonuses.

Amid these circumstances, direct care staffing agencies are charging exorbitant prices to long term care facilities that need workers. AHCA/NCAL state affiliates are undertaking legislative efforts to prevent these agencies from charging more than double and—in some cases—as much as quadruple the amount operators are currently paying their staff.

AHCA/NCAL requests that the FTC use its authority to investigate this price gouging and take appropriate action to protect long term care facilities.

Read the full letter here.