(The Center Square) – Home care workers said Tuesday that a $21 million proposal to increase wages and benefits isn’t just a good idea, it’s the bare minimum to keep the industry float.
Most in the state earn between $13 and $14 per hour due to the Medicaid reimbursement rate. The proposal would increase salaries for participant-directed care workers who are not employed through an agency.
“This funding means dignity — not just for the people we care for, but for the people doing the caring, too,” said participant-directed home care worker Krysten Xanthis. “This job is demanding. It’s physical. It’s emotional. It’s skilled work. But too many of us are living paycheck to paycheck or going without basic needs—while doing work that keeps other people safe and healthy.”
For the state, the issue is high stakes. Hard work at low wages has driven an exodus from home health care, which is competing with less stressful and higher-paying jobs in areas like the service industry. With a major demographic shift amounting to more seniors in need of more care, the field can’t afford to lose.
Many of those who work as participant-directed workers are caring for family members who are elderly or disabled. Often, the need is so great that individuals are forced to leave full-time jobs to meet them. That’s where Medicaid reimbursements for home care come in.
Administered through the state’s Community Health Choices program, participant-directed workers provide care for over 8,500 people. The services allow people to stay in their communities, a model that is both cost-effective for the state and upheld as socially, mentally, and emotionally beneficial for most individuals.
“People like me want to stay in our homes, and caregivers like my son deserve to be able to do this work without worrying about how they’re going to pay their own bills,” said Thomas Bowman, a participant-directed home care consumer, on Tuesday.
The funds would also go toward paid time off for these workers. This is a first for a group in which most receive few benefits.
For many home care workers, the funding increase is not enough. The benefit to participant-directed workers does nothing to assist with the comparably low wages of those who agencies employ, they say.
In April, the Pennsylvania Homecare Association, or PHA, called for a 10% increase for all home care workers, a $370 million investment that still falls short of the need indicated by a wage study published by the Department of Human Services in February.
“We understand that this is a challenging budget year, but Pennsylvania simply cannot afford to ignore this home care crisis any longer,” said PHA CEO Mia Haney. “Inaction is no longer an option – the health and safety of our communities is hanging in the crosshairs of these budget decisions. If our legislators don’t act, the results will be devastating – medically complex children sent back to hospitals, families torn apart, wheelchair-bound adults left in bed all day, seniors laying alone on the floor after a fall, or worse…”
