Inadequate reimbursement for the actual costs of service over the previous two decades has imperiled community-based providers and therefore the quality of care. An Executive Office of Health and Human Services report reveals a number of disturbing statistics about the financial health of human service providers in Massachusetts, including:

• One-third of providers experience organization-wide deficits each year
• 56 percent of providers report deficits on Commonwealth activities each year
• Nearly 60 percent of providers have cumulative deficits on their Commonwealth activities since 1993
• About half of all providers have liabilities in excess of net assets and 4 percent have negative net assets
• Almost half of providers do not generate sufficient cash to pay for operations
• 60 percent of providers have less than one month cash on hand at the end of the year

“Given the vital role that this industry and its work force play, both as an economic contributor to the commonwealth and as a partner in delivering care to vulnerable citizens, . . . it is in the commonwealth’s interest to ensure that the industry’s work force is paid a fair living wage.”