Monthly Archive for February, 2009

I work as a direct care worker for the Passavant Retirement Community Assisted Living Facility and have health insurance through my employer.    Even though I have health insurance, it does not cover most of the prescriptions I need to stay healthy.  For example, I had to change my doctor and four of my prescriptions because the insurance I get through my employer will only allow me to get certain prescriptions. The new prescriptions I got didn’t work nearly as well as the old ones, and I had to still pay $50 dollars out of pocket for each prescription.  That is an extra $200 dollars a month. Continue reading ‘My health care is still unaffordable – even with insurance’

I am a divorced mother of three girls and a grandmother of two.  I turn 52 in January.  Some of you may find that too young to be a grandmother, but I am lucky I can actually  run with my grandchildren.  I have a few gray hair in my head.  I haven’t decided if I will dye my hair when I have more then 10 or leave it alone.  I love how mixed gray looks on other people so I can’t wait to see myself like this one day.  I am the face of direct-care workers.

In 2003,  I lost my job with HUD.  I always had been gainfully employed so healthcare was never a question.  Cobra was offered to me but the cost once unemployed was out of the question.   Around the time I lost my job,  I started helping my youngest daughter and her friends when they needed care for their children, and before long I was running a day care center from my home. I loved working at home because I could now help my own mother, who is physically disabled.    

Then taking care of my mother became my full time job. I am paid to give complete care for my mother through the Delaware County Services for the Aging. 

I love caring for and helping people.  I honestly think I am great at it.  But I have recently begun to think maybe, for my own welfare, I should go out and seek other employment because I need health care.  I can’t go to the doctor when I need to, and I am worried if I get sick or hurt that no one will be there to take care of my mother and my children. 

Health insurance would cost me $450 dollars a month.  I am not making enough money to afford anything even close to that. I am torn between getting a job outside of my house to get health insurance and staying home to take care of my mother, who needs me. I do not want to put my mother into a nursing home. She wants to stay at home where she is comfortable; where she has lived for so many years.

 I never thought I would have to choose between my own health and the health of my loved ones.

Melva Williams
Home Care Aide
Media, PA

The Health Care for Health Care Workers Campaign is taking part in the PA Health Access Network conference on health care reform and advocacy in Harrisburg. Policymakers at the national and state levels are focusing on the need to broaden access to medical care, bring rising costs under control, and build a sustainable health system that serves us all. Long Term Care Employers and Direct Care Workers need to have a voice in these reform efforts. Continue reading ‘PA Health Access Network March Conference – Getting Everyone Covered’

State flag of Vermont

PHI has partnered with the Vermont Campaign for Health Care Security’s Education Fund  on an effort to increase outreach to direct care workers about their health insurance options in Vermont.  The state of Vermont offers several subsidized health insurance products, including Medicaid, the Vermont Health Access Program (VHAP) and Catamount, which was launched in 2007.  Despite these three health insurance options, collectively called Green Mountain Care, many direct care workers do not have health insurance.
Continue reading ‘HCHCW to Increase Outreach Efforts in Vermont’

President Obama signing the stimulus bill.

The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 - known as the economic stimulus bill – will provide $87 billion in additional federal Medicaid funding for states for expenditures between October 1, 2008 and December 31, 2010.  This is very good news for states, many that have proposed significant cuts in their programs.  The funding will be allocated to the states in the form of an increase in their federal medical assistance percentage – FMAP – thus lowering the state’s share of the costs.  Continue reading ‘Economic Stimulus Provides $87 Billion in Medicaid Funding for States’

Pennsylvania State Capitol

The proposed PA budget unveiled last week increases health care spending by $800 million over the current year’s budget, providing health care for more uninsured adults.  Governor Rendell has proposed expanding the adultBasic program and will include coverage for prescription drugs and behavioral health.

Unfortunately, the adultBasic waiting list has nearly doubled within the last year to 183,000 people. This waiting list is expected to grow to 282,000 by June. The Governor’s proposal will increase the number of low-income Pennsylvanians with state-supported health care insurance by only 50,000. This increased enrollment is proposed as a “bridge” to national health care reform and will expire after four years. Continue reading ‘PA Budget Proposal Expands Health Care for Uninsured Adults’

Last month, 900 Montana direct-care workers who provide Medicaid private duty nursing and personal care services started receiving health insurance under a new program called Health Care for Health Care Workers.  The program was approved by the 2007 legislature and is currently up for extension during this legislative session.  Under the program, Medicaid providers receive additonal funds for health insurance for their workers if they meet certain requirements. Continue reading ‘Montana Direct-Care Workers Receive Health Insurance’

Independence Hall in Philadelphia

Last week, the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance released results of a statewide survey that showed more than one million Pennsylvanians lack health insurance coverage. Meanwhile, a forthcoming report from the PA Center for Health Careers shows that 16% of direct care workers lack insurance coverage, and even higher rates for those working in home and community based services.  That means that direct care workers are twice as likely to be uninsured than the general population of Pennsylvania.

Continue reading ‘More Pennsylvanians Without Health Insurance Than Ever Before’

A recent guest editorial by the Iowa CareGivers Association in the Des Moines Register criticizes the Iowa legislature for its lack of urgency in improving long-term care services.

After decades of stories citing poor quality of care, legislation was passed last year to improve caregiving in the state by providing workers with health care benefits, better compensation, and increased training – all factors that reduce turnover and therefore improve quality of long- term care services. Continue reading ‘Iowa Legislature Lacks Urgency’

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has expanded its website to include a new, more comprehensive resource on health reform.

The website will include up-to-date information on multiple aspects of health reform, including  covering the uninsured, improving quality and value, bringing down spending, preventing disease, strengthening public health, and addressing social determinants.   This will include research, analysis, up-dates on state and national policy developments, and a place to sign up for email alerts.

For more information, visit  http://www.rwjf.org/healthreform/