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.
“I realize how lucky I am to have the generous support of someone who was moved by my story in the paper. However, it only makes me think about all of the other of thousands of direct care workers who go without coverage everyday as they take care of clients who need their help. Generosity is wonderful and I am grateful, but it is not a health care system any of us can depend on. We need health care reform in Pennsylvania so all direct care workers can have health care.”
Karen represents thousands of direct care workers who cannot afford private insurance and whose employers do not offer insurance do to the high cost of coverage. The PA HCHCW campaign is working hard to make health insurance an option through policy and advocacy. To join the Pennsylvania campaign, email Tracy Lawless, the PA State Campaign Coordinator, at tlawless@phinational.org.
Allison Lee
National Campaign Manager
HCHCW
alee@phinational.org
While I am thrilled for Karen that she will be able to get health insurance at long last, and get the surgery she needs to be able to keep working, and also deeply moved by the kindness of a reader who would be so generous as to pay for the health insurance of a complete stranger, I am deeply troubled that it came to this.
We live in the wealthiest country in the world, and a working person must rely on the kindness of a stranger for their health care? It’s simply astounding. As Karen says, this is a solution for her, but not a system for the many thousands of other caregivers who currently lack coverage.
We can and must do better than this as a nation.
Health care is one of the few areas of employment that has been adding jobs, while most other sectors are cutting them. We often hear that health care jobs are “recession proof” and it has been widely publicized that we are facing a shortage of nurses, therapists, assistants, and medical technicians and that the demand for these and other health care positions will only grow with the growth of an aging population. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the career areas expecting the most growth are service industry jobs, with more than half in the health care sector.
How can the health care industry expect to attract good candidates for their growing number of positions if they can’t provide employees with something as basic as health care coverage?