Pennsylvania House Bill 1939 would build an annual inflation adjustment into Medicaid rates for intellectual disability and autism home- and community-based services, and require providers to raise DSP wages by the same percentage. The House Human Services Committee heard the bill on Aug. 18, 2026, and committee chair Doyle Heffley's office summarized the hearing in an Aug. 28 release.
The bipartisan bill is sponsored by Rep. Jessica Benham, D-Allegheny, with Rep. Jason Ortitay, R-Washington/Allegheny, as co-prime sponsor.
What House Bill 1939 would require
According to the bill text (printer's number 2447), to the extent money is appropriated and subject to federal approval, fee schedule rates would rise each Oct. 1, starting in 2026, by the most recent 12-month change in the consumer price index. If funding falls short, the increase shrinks to fit, and if the index is flat or falls, rates stay the same.
When rates rise, providers would have to increase DSP total wages by that same percentage by Jan. 1. The department would publish a lower-bound DSP wage each year, and no provider could pay below it. Starting July 1, 2027, a provider paying under the floor could be fined up to the wages owed: hours worked times the shortfall for each affected DSP. Fines would go to an existing account for I/DD home and community services.
Providers would report each year the number of DSPs, average and starting wages by service and compensation details, including benefits and payroll taxes.
What the committee heard
Deputy Secretary Kristin Ahrens said the Office of Developmental Programs serves 62,000 people, 42,000 of them through four home and community waivers. Nick Kratz of the Pennsylvania Advocacy and Resources for Autism and Intellectual Disability said his group supports any path to annual increases. DSP Tena Ezekiel of Invision Human Services said the bill would help agencies hire and keep staff, and Washington County mother Rose Baumann described leaving work because in-home support was not there.
The Altoona Mirror, covering the same hearing, reported an average Pennsylvania DSP wage of $18.53 an hour from a statewide compensation study released in April, and quoted the Department of Human Services supporting the bill as a way to make funding more predictable. The bill was introduced on Oct. 10, 2025, and as of Sept. 26, 2026, its last recorded action was referral to the Human Services Committee.
Why this matters for providers and DSPs
For DSPs, the bill would tie raises to the same inflation adjustment agencies receive, instead of leaving pay to each year's budget. For agencies, it would mean passing increases through by Jan. 1, staying above a published wage floor and reporting pay data every year. None of that happens unless lawmakers pass the bill and fund it.