In October, the Philadelphia Inquirer covered the story of Karen Goroncy, a direct care worker who goes without health care coverage as she cares for those who need her help. In a follow up story last week, the Inquirer reported that a generous reader has offered to cover Karen’s costs of health insurance so that she can get the surgery she needs. Continue reading ‘PA Direct Care Worker Raises the Profile of Uninsured’
Author Archive for alee
The Maine Bureau of Insurance recently issued its long awaited report Health Insurance Coverage for Maine’s Direct Care Workers (pdf) and recommends the development of a pilot program to cover a segment of the direct-care workforce. The report was the work of a working group convened over the summer by the Superintendent of Insurance at the direction of the Insurance and Financial Services Committee. Several direct care workers, providers and advocates participated in the group. Continue reading ‘Maine Bureau of Insurance Recommends Pilot Program for Health Insurance’
I hear it all the time when I talk to co-workers. “We need health insurance,” they always say to me. The drawback is the funding. With Maine’s budget the way it is, I honestly will be very surprised to see if the Legislature follows Ms. Kofman’s recommendation on the pilot. But I am hopeful.
The Bureau of Insurance report on options for providing health insurance to Maine’s direct care workers is finally complete and recommends that a pilot program be developed for covering direct care workers in our state. Having been involved in the process of producing the report, I think the recommendation of a pilot is great as it would be a way to show employers and policy makers that health insurance is important to this workforce.
Continue reading ‘My View: Helen Hanson on Advocacy and the Maine Report’
I am my husband’s caregiver. He suffered from a debilitating stroke 10 years ago when he was 61 years old. My full time job is to take care of my husband, and because of the failing economy, the state’s ability to pay my wages is now in jeopardy. What I get from the state pays for my bills, and leaves little extra for anything else.
I have Ladies First. Ladies First is a state program that covers mammograms at a discounted price, on an annual basis. I qualify for that because of my income, and because I don’t have any other health insurance. Continue reading ‘Caught In the Gap without Health Coverage’
This past summer, HCHCW expanded into Vermont with an outreach campaign to direct-care workers about a new health care program in the state – Catamount Health. Catamount Health, in conjunction with Medicaid, the Vermont Health Access Program (VHAP) and Dr. Dynosaur (a program to insure children), offers subsidized, comprehensive health insurance to Vermonters with incomes of up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level (or individuals with a gross monthly income of $2,613). This group of programs is known as Green Mountain Care. Catamount Health went into effect in the fall of 2007. Continue reading ‘HCHCW Expands to Vermont’
“Now, some may ask how at this moment of economic challenge we can afford to invest in reforming our health care system. And I ask a different question. I ask how can we afford not to…. So let’s be clear. If we want to overcome our economic challenges, we must also finally address your health care challenge.
- President- Elect Obama
Last week, President-Elect Obama officially announced Tom Daschle as his choice for both Secretary of Health and Human Services and director of the new White House Office of Health Reform. He also named Dr. Jeanne Lambrew, who worked on health policy at the White House from 1997 to 2000, as the deputy director of Health Reform. According to a story in the New York Times, Daschle wants to establish a Federal Health Board, an independent entity like the Federal Reserve. Details of this plan are described in a book that Lambrew and Daschle recently co-wrote entitled, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.”
According to a recent web post at the Center for American Progress, where Lambrew is a Senior Fellow, Lambrew has advocated for plans that allow Americans to keep their existing coverage, while offering affordable options to those who need them. The plan would simplify Medicaid and extend coverage to those below a certain income level.
President-Elect Obama and his transition team are asking for input on health care reform. Between now and the end of the year, activists are encouraged to hold community meetings, such as a house party, to talk about health care reform and submit comments to the transition team. In particular, it is important to make sure to raise issues that effect the direct-care workforce and long-term care. Sign up to host a community meeting by visiting change.gov. It will take all of us to make sure the meaningful health care reform becomes a reality.
Allison Lee
National Policy Director
HCHCW
alee@phinational.org
Issues facing direct-care workers were highlighted at a recent “Healthcare in the Heartland” forum in Des Moines, Iowa. The event, sponsored by the University of Iowa and the Iowa Department of Public Health, focused on the implementation status of numerous provisions of House File 2539, the Health Care Reform Act, passed by the Iowa General Assembly in 2008.
Several provisions in HF 2539 focused on direct care workers. A panel, which included John Hale, Policy Director of the Iowa CareGivers Association and Diane Frerichs, a Certified Nurse Aide from Estherville, Iowa discussed the emerging crisis in the direct care workforce and the activities underway to address their training, certification, wages and health care benefits.
The event was attended by 250 health care insurers and providers, elected leaders, representatives of state government agencies, citizen advocates and others interested in health care reform initiatives. United States Senator Tom Harkin, the featured speaker, spoke at length about the prospect for health care reform in an Obama Administration, and of his work with Senator Ted Kennedy to insure consideration of reform initiatives in 2009.
John Hale offered this comment on the day: “This forum provided us with an opportunity to discuss direct care worker issues on the same level and with the same seriousness as other health care issues. Having Diane speak from the heart about the work she does, and why she does it, brought a powerful human element to the day. Our hope is that attendees left thinking differently about direct care workers and the work they do, and recognizing the need to continue the efforts begun in Iowa to insure that direct care workers are well paid, adequately benefitted and receiving excellent initial and ongoing training.”
John Hale
Policy Director
Iowa CareGivers Association
hale_johnd@msn.com
The Minnesota Department of Human Services has contracted with The Lewin Group to complete a study of the cost of providing health insurance to long-term care workers in Minnesota. Specifically, the grant is “to complete a study of the cost and the percentage increase in anticipated reimbursement rates needed in future fiscal years under the state Medical Assistance Program, and other state and federally funded long-term care programs, to cover the long-term care employers’ average increased contribution to employee health coverage, in order to provide health and dental insurance coverage for long-term care workers in Minnesota.”
The grant is in response to legislation passed during the 2008 Legislative Session mandating the study, which is to include cost estimates for three levels of insurance coverage for long-term care employees–including skilled nursing facilities and home and community-based providers:
- The coverage provided to state employees
- The coverage provided to MinnesotaCare enrollees
- The benefits provided under an “average” private market insurance product with a deductible limited to $100 per person.
The study will include surveying the state’s workforce to collect data on health benefits currently offered by employers and the number of workers and characteristics of the workforce. The study will begin this month and the anticipated date of completion is June 2009.
The Lewin Group is one of the partners with PHI in the National Direct Service Workforce Resource Center .
Carol Regan
Director
Health Care for Health Care Workers
cregan@phinational.org
What worries you most about the health care system in our country?
That is what the Obama transition team wants to know from ordinary Americans, and they’ve set up a place on their website for you to tell them what you think. We see it as a promising sign that the transition team picked this as the first public discussion on Change.gov.
As advocates for affordable, quality health coverage for direct care workers and their employers, this is one way for you to add your thoughts and ideas to those of thousands of others. Please join the conversation, and let them know what your personal or organization’s priorities are for health care. We would like to see diverse voices joining in the discussion. Here are some points you can make in your comments:
- Direct care workers are twice as likely as the general public to lack health insurance
- Caregiving jobs that are growing the fastest — those providing personal care services in people’s homes — are least likely to have health coverage.
- There is solid evidence that health insurance is critical to job retention and in reducing turnover.
- Insufficient government reimbursement rates to providers are a major obstacle in the ability of those employers to offer insurance to their employees.
Enter your comments now and make your voice heard. And if you do, please share your comment with us by posting it below in the comments section. Or you can email your comment to us at cregan@phinational.org
Carol Regan
Director
Health Care for Health Care Workers
cregan@phinational.org
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