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’
Archive for the 'Pennsylvania' Category
Since I started with the Health Care for Health Care Workers Campaign a little over a year ago, it has become apparent that it is the stories, letters, and advocacy efforts of direct-care workers that ultimately resonate with policy makers as well as the public.
The article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about Karen Goroncy and her lack of health insurance highlighted how it impacts her ability to care for her consumer. Melva William’s letter to the editor in response to Karen’s story voices her own fears about getting sick and not being able to continue to take care of her ailing mother due to her own lack of health insurance. It is these stories that provide a face for the HCHCW Campaign mission.
It is the passion that workers have about improving wages, benefits, and overall perception of their work and the industry that make a difference in our campaign. If it had not been for one hundred workers across the state who called their legislators back in March demanding that health care be made affordable and accessible, the health insurance reform legislation “PA ABC” may never have passed the House with such success. Next session, we’ll need that same passion to try and get an affordable health insurance plan passed by both Houses.
In order to continue these efforts, I am looking to meet direct-care workers who are willing to share their personal stories regarding health insurance, participate in “come care with me days” where they invite a policy maker to their place of work, and ultimately form a committee of workers from across the state who will work together to advocate for affordable and accessible health insurance the direct-care workforce.
In the next few months, I will be traveling to different nursing homes, assisted living facilities, home health agencies, and the homes of direct-care workers to hold a series of brown bag lunches and small gatherings to talk with workers about the campaign and the variety of activities listed above. With the help of members from the Direct Care Worker Association, I have already scheduled several meetings and brown bag lunches for the fall, as well as collected several new stories to add to the campaign’s story bank.
If you are interested in getting involved, please contact me, Simone Baer, at (412) 450-8080 or by email at sbaer@phinational.org. I’d love to talk with you about joining us in these activities and how your story can make a difference.
Simone Baer
PA Community Organizer
sbaer@phinational.org
The Pennsylvania Senate leadership did not allow a vote on any health care bills before leaving Harrisburg for the year, therefore precluding a vote on Pennsylvania Access to Basic Care (PA-ABC), a health care reform bill that would have provided health care and prescription drug benefits to more than 250,000 uninsured Pennsylvanians, including direct care workers.
Since the House approved PA-ABC last spring, the Senate has repeatedly criticized the plan for its failure to secure a long-term funding source beyond five years. More recently, as state revenues decreased and the economy collapsed, Senators were hesitant to support a major expansion of a public program like PA-ABC. The Health Care for Health Care Workers Campaign, along with other allied organizations, advocated that the possibility of having to cut funding for PA-ABC in five years should not deny thousands who need reliable health care now.
Funding for PA ABC was to come from health account surpluses, smokeless tobacco taxes, and federal Medicaid spending. PA-ABC failed not because of lack of funding but because special interest groups refused to support it.
By providing affordable health insurance, PA-ABC would have created a way for uninsured direct care workers get treatment that they may have delayed and allowed them to begin a pattern of primary care and prevention. Our entire health care system would have become more efficient as a result.
The Health Care for Health Care Workers Campaign will continue to work on this issue until meaningful health care reform becomes a reality. We encourage all direct workers, providers, and consumers in Pennsylvania to express their disappointment to their state Senators. You can reach your Senator by going to http://www.legis.state.pa.us/ and plugging in your zip code.
Tracy Lawless
Pennsylvania State Campaign Coordinator
Health Care for Health Care Workers
tlawless@phinational.org
An October 6, 2008 story from The Philadelphia Inquirer examines the challenges faced by a Pennsylvania home health aide who lacks health coverage. Read a snippet below and then follow the link to the full article: Continue reading ‘Story: A Caregiver Is Denied Medical Care’
This week Pennsylvania legislators will decide whether or not to increase access to affordable health care for 250,000 Pennsylvanians - including many direct-care workers - who have no health insurance.
We need your help today. Senate Republicans have not yet agreed to the plan passed by the House and agreed to by the Governor. Time is running out. If agreement is not reached by Friday, October 3rd, the clock will run out on this legislative session and this opportunity will be lost.
What can you do? Call or email your State Senator and ask him/her to support PA-ABC - the bill that will provide affordable health insurance for thousands of Pennsylvanians. Remind your State Senator that the funding set aside for this bill can only be used for health care – nothing else. You can find the name and contact information for your State Senator at http://www.pasen.gov/ Just enter your zip code in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
CALL or EMAIL your State Senator today!
Ask your Senator to support the bill to provide affordable health insurance to thousands of Pennsylvanians
Background: Pennsylvania currently has a subsidized health insurance program called adultBasic – but right now enrollment is full and there is a long waiting list. The Pennsylvania House and Governor Rendell have proposed to increase enrollment in adultBasic to 250,000 individuals over the next five years. The premium amount would depend on your income. The money to fund this program will come from a combination of existing tobacco taxes, contributions by Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance companies, the $500 million surplus in an existing state health fund, and federal matching funds. No new taxes would be involved and this funding can only be used for health care.
As someone who works in long term care and provides care for hundreds and thousands of consumers, you know how crucial it is to have accessible and affordable health care. Perhaps you or someone you know has delayed treatment for a serious medical condition because of lack of health insurance. You can make a difference. We urge you to call or email your Senator today!
Last week, the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, of which HCHCW-PA is member, held a rally in Harrisburg to call on the Pennsylvania State Senate to pass bills that would provide health insurance coverage to thousands of uninsured Pensylvania residents - including many direct-care workers.
Lori Michael, the owner of a home nursing care company in Schuylkill County and an advocate for HCHCW, cited unaffordable health coverage as a major business issue. Lori spoke about the impact the lack of affordable health insurance has on her ability to retain and recruit direct-care workers to serve the ever growing client base. “People in Pennsylvania want to age at home,” said Lori Michael, owner of Lori’s Angels in Schuylkill Haven. “We want to help them do that. We need help from state government.” The rally and Lori’s comments were covered in the Scranton Times and on PCN network.
PA State Senators are back in session and poised to take up health reform over the next two weeks. If you live in PA, take time now to call your take Senator and urge them to pass health care reform legislation this year. To find your Senator, visit http://www.pasen.gov/
On September 3, long-term care providers interested in health care reform met with State Senator James Rhoades (pictured) to discuss the health care legislation awaiting passage in the Pennsylvania Senate.
The meeting was organized by a long-term care provider in Schuylkill County, who is concerned about the lack of affordable, accessible health care for her employees. She and other providers joined health care reform advocates from HCHCW and elsewhere to ask the senator to support health care for all Pennsylvanians.
The group asked the senator to ensure that health care reform legislation accomplish the following goals:
- Provide financial incentives for small business owners to provide employee coverage by using “community rating” to assess risk and “rate bands” when setting premiums;
- Address the need to provide home care workers and other low-wage earners whose hours are unstable or part-time with access to affordable quality health insurance; and
- Allow direct-care workers to obtain health insurance through the state, which would allow them to continue to work for agencies or the consumer hire program without having to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for those services.
Tracy Lawless
PA State Campaign Coordinator, PHI’s HCHCW campaign
tlawless@phinational.org
POSTPONED: We’ll be back in touch with future plans. For more information or to join the campaign, please contact Tracy Lawless at 724-933-6164 or tlawless@phinational.org
EMPOWERING OUR FUTURE: A Conference for Pennsylvania Direct-Care Workers and Supporters
Celebrating the passion, commitment, and leadership that makes quality long-term care possible.
When: October 3, 2008, 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM
Where: Regional Learning Alliance Conference Center (directions)
Download the conference schedule (pdf)
Empowering our Future will bring together an emerging network of workers, worker-advocates, and their supporters who are concerned about the future of long-term care in Pennsylvania. It will provide a unique opportunity for direct-care workers to learn from each other and create new alliances with colleagues from across the state who understand the crucial role direct-care workers play in our state’s long-term care system. Continue reading ‘HCHW to Host Conference for PA Direct-Care Workers & Allies’
Last week, Health Care for Health Care Workers (HCHCW) staff and other PHI employees met with ten long-term care employers (pictured) in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The goal of the meeting was to familiarize providers in the region about PHI’s Nine Elements of a Quality Job and its HCHCW campaign.
The longterm goal of this outreach is to help group members become leaders in advocating for issues surrounding long-term care and the direct-care workforce — and familiarize them with PHI as a resource on health care and training programs.
At the beginning of the day, providers shared their public policy and advocacy experiences. Some had a great deal of experience in advocating around licensing, culture change, women’s issues, or patient rights, while others had never engaged in advocacy.
Then they discussed their concerns about the direct-care workforce. Most expressed dismay at being unable to raise wages or provide benefits because it is not affordable. In addition, some expressed concern about the work ethic of younger employees, while others said we need to do more to honor and value direct-care workers. There was also a discussion about inconsistent hours and inconsistent funding sources.
Continue reading ‘HCHCW Convenes SW PA Employers for Advocacy, Action’
Health Care for America Now, a national grassroots campaign seeking to win affordable, quality health care for all Americans, launched on July 8 with events across the country. PHI’s Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign recently joined the new campaign.
In three key HCHCW states, HCHCW staff and partners participated in launch events, seizing the opportunity to focus attention on the health care needs of direct-care workers:
- Pennsylvania. HCHCW Community Organizer Simone Baer spoke about the thousands of direct-care workers caring for the state’s most vulnerable citizens who lack health care coverage of their own. The event was covered by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
- Iowa. Iowa’s HCHCW partner, the Iowa CareGivers Association, participated in the launch on the steps of the state capitol. The ICA is one of 18 initial members of a growing campaign in Iowa that is working to assure that the next President and Congress pass legislation guaranteeing quality, affordable health care for all. ”As a key battleground state in the Presidential election, Iowa will be a focal point for debate over the respective candidates’ plans to reform the health care system,” said ICA Policy Director John Hale. “The ICA and direct-care workers will be involved in those debates, and will insure that the candidates recognize the unique needs of direct-care workers in getting and keeping adequate and affordable health care coverage.”
- Maine. Helen Hanson, a direct-care worker from China, Maine, represented the Maine Direct-Care Worker Coalition, a HCHCW partner, at the launch event on the steps of her state’s capitol. Helen spoke of her struggle with health care bills after routine tests that were not covered by her catastrophic coverage plan. Another HCHCW partner, the Maine Center for Ecomomic Policy, also participated in the launch event, which was covered by the Portland Press Herald.
Things will be heating up as the Presidential campaign moves toward November. Visit the Health Care for America Now website to find out how you can get involved.
Allison Lee, HCHCW National Campaign Manager
alee@phinational.org
When the General Assembly reconvenes the last week in September, four important pieces of business relating to health care, which were left unfinished when the legislators headed home for the summer, will be at the top of the agenda. Between now and then, we want your help engaging Pennsylvania’s direct-care workers in this debate.
The four issues:
- Health insurance for the uninsured;
- Health insurance market reform for small businesses and individuals;
- Reauthorization of the PA Health Care Cost Containment Council, the agency that assesses data like the cost and quality of health care; and
- Malpractice insurance premium reductions for hospitals and doctors
The four were not addressed because Senate leaders kept SB 1137, PA- Access to Basic Care, bottled up for three months in the Senate committee that allows bills to come up for a vote. PA-ABC, as it is called, would provide affordable health care coverage – including prescription drug and behavioral health care – for uninsured Pennsylvanians. It was passed by the House in March. The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee finally held a hearing on the bill in June, but no further action was taken.
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans unveiled an outline of an entirely different health care plan built around free medical care, volunteer doctors, and tax credits and grants for community health clinics. That plan, known as Health Net, would do little to help cover the uninsured. It would also be difficult to implement, since its success would depend on being able to serving the uninsured with volunteers and extend existing COBRA plans. It also calls for providing a few thousand people in a very high risk pool with minimal coverage for $10 million — an optimistic goal, since this would be an extremely costly group to insure.
Continue reading ‘Pennsylvania Has Unfinished Business on Health Care’
On June 12, Tracy Lawless and Simone Baer of HCHCW PA spoke at the Consumers Union’s Cover America Tour press event in Pittsburgh. The two discussed the need for affordable health care for direct-care workers — and all Pennsylvanians.
Tracy spoke (pdf) about the role health care coverage for direct-care workers plays in providing quality care for America’s greatest generation. “It has been shown before that affordable health care is key to keeping direct-care workers in their jobs,” she says. “This retention is critical to consistency of care. Continue reading ‘HCHCW PA Joins the Consumers Union Cover America Tour’
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As part of HCHCW-PA’s efforts on behalf of the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, Tracy Lawless participated in a radio interview that aired on WCNS 1480 AM on June 14. Tracy and her colleague at the Consumer Health Coalition answered questions about the current health care reform legislation taking place in the Commonwealth.
The bill would cover more than 250,000 of Pennsylvania’s uninsured. It would also include a prescription drug and behavioral health coverage.
WCNS was picked to air the discussion because it is in a part of Westmoreland County whose state senator has not committed to supporting the bill.
Tracy talked about how this bill would help direct-care workers, mentioning the many issues that make that workforce particularly vulnerable, including low wages, lack of health care benefits, and high on-the-job injury rates. At the beginning and end of the broadcast, ads encouraged listeners to contact their state senator and urge him to support the health care bill.
Harrisburg, PA — Pennsylvania Direct Care Worker, Karen Goroncy, who has accrued thousands of dollars in medical debt because of lack of health care coverage, participated in an advocacy day in the state capitol on June 3rd. Karen explained to her State Senator that if she has to call off of work because she is too sick, “my client can’t get out of bed in the morning, cannot eat or even bath themselves.”
Karen participated as part of the Pennsylvania Health Access Network’s effort to pass Senate Bill 1137 (PA-Access to Basic Care) which would work to cover more than 270,000 of Pennsylvania’s uninsured. In addition to doctors visits and other basic care, the PA- ABC bill would also provide prescription drug and behavioral health coverage.
Later that afternoon Karen participated in a press conference in the Capitol Rotunda with state Senator’s Costa and Hughes. The Senators called for Senate leadership to discharge the bill from committee and bring it to the floor for a vote.
Last month, the Pennsylvania House passed a bill (pdf) that would make affordable health care accessible to more Pennsylvanians, including thousands of direct-care workers. The vote was 118-81.
Tracy Lawless and Simone Baer of PHI’s Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign have worked diligently over the past year, teaming with the state’s health care reform coalitions and people who have a stake in our long-term care system, to educate advocates and legislators on this issue. In the week before the House vote they jumped into even higher gear, making a tremendous grassroots push to reach direct-care workers and employers statewide, as well as general health care advocates in the western part of PA. Continue reading ‘PA House Passes Health Care Bill’
“We cannot sit back and wait for the federal government to pass health-care reform or wait for the next president to do something about it. Our legislature has the responsibility to uncover exactly what funding streams, compromises and trade-offs are necessary for potential changes to be made,” says a letter to the editor in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Tracy Lawless, the Pennsylvania state campaign director for Health Care for Health Care Workers.
Lawless noted that the recent Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant (doc) to the Pennsylvania Health Access Network may “help create a mandate toward serious health-care reform for the uninsured and underinsured.”
Last year, the PHI Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign in Pennsylvania amplified direct-care worker voices in the debate over health care reform by joining a new statewide coalition. That amplification got a boost today when the coalition received a major grant.
The Pennsylvania Health Access Network (PHAN) has been awarded a $750,000, three-year grant by the Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) Foundation and Community Catalyst. The Consumer Voices for Coverage grant will provide technical and financial assistance to help PHAN create a robust advocacy network.
“There is tremendous momentum in the states for implementing effective health care reform,” says RWJ President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey in a PHAN press release (doc). “We know from experience that the voices of consumers – the men and women who work hard each day to support their families – are often the most effective in driving necessary change.”
PHAN works to protect high quality health insurance coverage for individuals and businesses, and to expand coverage to the uninsured. Its partners include PHI, the Philadelphia Unemployment Project (PUP)/Unemployment Information Center, Pennsylvania Health Law Project, the Consumer Health Coalition of Pittsburgh, the Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania, the Service Employees International Union, the City of Philadelphia Office of Consumer Affairs, the Keystone Development Partnership, the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, and the United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 1776.
PHAN says it will use the grant money “to promote change at the state and national level by mobilizing affected constituencies, including consumers, health care providers, business, labor, the faith community and the general public to press for a more accessible and affordable health care system.”
Included in that mobilization will be direct-care workers, their employers, and the people they assist. “This grant will allow the Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign to further our advocacy so that direct-care workers in Pennsylvania can get the health care coverage they need,” says Health Care for Health Care Workers Pennsylvania State Campaign Coordinator Tracy Lawless. “Working with our partners at PHAN will allow the direct-care workforce to have a voice at the larger, statewide advocacy table.”
An article in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette provides an update on Governor Ed Rendell’s plans for Cover All Pennsylvanians (CAP).
The governor is proposing to fund CAP in part with money accumulated in a state fund that helps doctors pay their malpractice insurance costs. He has now said he will not approve the malpractice subsidies until lawmakers agree to fund CAP.
“I want to thank Gov. Ed Rendell for playing hardball with the Legislature to get something done on health care,” says Pat Downing, a member of the board of the Pennsylvania Direct Care Workers Association, in a letter to the editor of today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Downing writes about the difficulty of continuing to keep doing direct-care work because of the high cost of health care, adding that she must go without the expensive medical tests her doctor recommends.
“This problem — caregivers without adequate health coverage — cannot be ignored,” she writes. “Too many elders and disabled depend on us to be there for them, and without affordable health care we can’t come to work.”
“I hope that our legislators do the right thing by ensuring that direct health-care workers have the same access to health-care coverage as the rest of us,” says Deb Shtulman, executive director of Valley Care Association in Sewickley, in a letter to the editor in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Shtulman voiced her support for Governor Rendell’s Cover All Pennsylvanians proposal and explained the need for better coverage for direct-care workers. She notes that many direct -care jobs are part-time, forcing workers to hold more than one at a time – none of which provide health insurance. “How can we expect to attract individuals to the direct-care worker jobs when they are earning as little as $10 per hour without benefits?” she asks. “How does such a person afford to pay for health-care coverage?”
Governor Ed Rendell is proposing a new way to pay for his Cover All Pennsylvanians plan, replacing a proposed tax on employers who do not provide health insurance.
According to an article in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the governor is now “looking to tap a surplus in a state fund that helps doctors pay their medical malpractice insurance costs. In addition, as before, the governor is calling for an increase in the tax on cigarettes and for a new tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco.”
The article praises the suggested funding sources, which include a 10-cent increase in the cigarette tax and a tax of 36 cents per unit on cigars, snuff, chew and any other tobacco that’s not a cigarette. “Ask people what they worry about, as countless polls have done, and their answer very often is health care,” it says. “A New York Times/CBS News poll last year found the majority of Americans said the federal government should guarantee health insurance to every citizen and they said they were willing to pay higher taxes to see that happen. But no national solution has been enacted.
“Pennsylvania now has an opportunity to help its uninsured citizens who have no alternative and to lead the nation by example.”
An article in today’s Warren Times Observer described a Warren County coalition for health care reform, one of several being formed statewide to create the Pennsylvania Health Access Network. The network is advocating legislative reform to provide quality, affordable health care to everyone in the Commonwealth.
Anna Vitriol, an intern with the PHI Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign, offered “information, guidance and support” at the group’s second meeting last week, noted the article, titled “Health Insurance Needs Draw Attention.” The article quoted Jessica Seabury, executive director for Consumer Health Coalition and the co-facilitator with Vitriol, on the importance of grassroots advocacy. “It’s the advocates on the ground in Warren… and the people that will make a difference,” she said.
The Pennsylvania Legislature adjourned for the remainder of the year without addressing the insurance reforms and Cover All Pennsylvanians (CAP) (pdf) insurance expansion contained in Governor Ed Rendell’s proposed Prescription for Pennsylvania.The primary obstacle to passing the bill is the cost of the proposal. According to a December 16 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article, the state’s Republican Party fears CAP could turn into “a permanent and expensive government entitlement program.” Governor Rendell wants to use a combination of a $400 million surplus in an account that helps physicians pay settlements in malpractice lawsuits, a 10-cent increase in the state tobacco tax, and a new sales tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco.
The governor had hoped to pass CAP by Christmas. He now hopes to pass the legislation by February 14, 2008. “This would be our Valentine’s Day gift to the people of Pennsylvania, health insurance for those who are now uninsured,” he said at a news briefing.
Meanwhile, there is a growing commitment among business groups, health care providers, and workers that something needs to be done to provide health care coverage to the growing number of Pennsylvanians without access in the new year.
Nearly one in five of Pennsylvania’s non-elderly residents – about 2.2 million people – will pay more than 10 percent of their income for health care next year, according to a story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The story is based on a November 28 Families USA report on the rapid rise of health care costs.Having health insurance is no guarantee of low health care costs. Of those 2.2 million, nearly nine in ten – 87.1 percent – have insurance. But the cost of premiums and co-payments is skyrocketing. According to another report, the article notes, the cost of employer-provided health insurance premiums for family coverage rose from $6,721 to $11,801 between 2000 and 2006.
The Families USA report reinforces what state policymakers have been seeing, according to Ann Torregrossa, policy director for the Governor’s Office of Health Care Reform. “We have a train wreck that’s happening as we speak,” she told the Post-Gazette. “It’s a totally unsustainable situation that dictates immediate action by both the state and federal government.”
The House Insurance Committee today considered two bills aimed at reforming the small group insurance market. Both would require all insurers to develop a standard benefit plan for small groups.HB 1601 is part of Governor Ed Rendell’s Prescription for Pennsylvania proposal. It would require insurers who offer health plans to employees of small businesses to establish community rates “without regard to health status, occupation, or any other factor.” It would also forbid insurers to charge anyone a rate that is more than 33 percent above or below the community rate.
HB 2005, introduced by Rep. Tony DeLuca (D-Allegheny), would require insurers that control less than 10 percent of the market to establish a base rate and to charge no more than 50 percent above or below the community rate. The bill, which was voted out of committee and re-committed to the appropriations committee, would also require insurers to provide coverage to children up through age 29.
Businesses in and around Pennsylvania sent the committee a letter (doc) in support of the bills. Health Care for Health Care Workers’ Tracy Lawless and Simone Baer solicited signatures from a number of long-term care providers who struggle to provide health insurance to direct-care workers.
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