CMS Resources on Strengthening the Direct Service Workforce

Direct service workers provide essential supports to older adults and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, and behavioral health needs.  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is pleased to announce the release of an online training course and a series of resources that offer strategies and information on self-direction, strengthening the…

NAHC to Congress: Fund Vital HCBS Programs in Reconciliation Package

The National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) and a group of other leading health care and aging organizations is urging Congress to support legislation to help elderly Americans maintain their health, well-being, and independence.

As with many previous efforts, NAHC has collaborated with the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations (LCAO) on aligning priority issues in supporting these shared proposals. Specifically, NAHC/LCAO urged Senators and Representatives to include provisions vital to building a sustaining robust home and community-based services in the reconciliation package under development in Congress.

Home and Community Based Services (HCBS)

The COVID-19 pandemic has further demonstrated the desire among patients to receive care in the home and highlighted the significant shortcomings of the Medicaid HCBS program as currently conducted. Chief among theses shortcomings is continued underfunding, a less than robust set of benefits provided, and shortage of caregivers. The letter acknowledges the $190 billion included in the most recent House draft of the legislation while pointing out that it is far lower than the $400 billion President Biden originally called for. LCAO urges Congress to make the highest possible investment in HCBS.

Direct Care Workforce

The letter lays out support for the nearly $1.5 billion in grants for the development of the direct care workforce. These grants would go towards recruitment, education, training, retention, and career advancement. Many direct care workers live near or below the federal poverty limit yet provide services that provide invaluable services enabling others to continue lives of independence. Workforce shortages were present prior to the pandemic and have only been exacerbated since. Government intervention will be necessary to support and bolster this crucial segment of the workforce.

Older Americans Act

The current House of Representatives language calls for $1.3 billion in funding to be directed towards Older Americans Act programs such as home care, transportation, meal delivery, and caregiver support.

Family Caregiver Tax Credit

The House draft includes a scaled down version of the NAHC supported Credit for Caring Act. As drafted, a family caregiver would be eligible for tax credit capped at $2,000 for expenses related to their caregiving, subject to an income limit of $75,000.

NAHC will continue to advocate on these issues and push for more robust funding. Negotiations on Capitol Hill are ongoing, but party leaders hope to have an agreement on a topline number for the final package as well as broad outline for policies included by the end of October, with a vote on the final package by the end of November or December at the latest.

NAHC to Congress: Fund Vital HCBS Programs in Reconciliation Package

The National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) and a group of other leading health care and aging organizations is urging Congress to support legislation to help elderly Americans maintain their health, well-being, and independence. As with many previous efforts, NAHC has collaborated with the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations (LCAO) on aligning priority…

Demand for Direct Care Workers Far Outstrips Supply

The direct care workforce will need to fill 8.2 million jobs from 2018 to 2028, with most of those jobs coming in the home care sector, according to a new report from PHI. Almost 4.5 million direct care workers tend to the elderly and disabled in America every day, and with a rapidly aging population…

Home Care Workers: The Future Demand for More and the Challenges they Face Now

The demand for home care workers has grown dramatically in the last 10 years and is poised for enormous growth in the years to come, but they currently face challenges, such as low pay and, in some cases, no health insurance for themselves or their families. The home care workforce is expected to have 4.2…

Who are Home Care Workers, by the Numbers?

Home care workers are home health aides, personal care aides, and nursing assistants, working with disabled people and the elderly in their homes. This is the direct care workforce and it is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse in the nation, according to the latest figures from PHI and the U.S. Census. Including…

New Report Argues for Boosting Access to Long-Term Care and Caregiver Pay

Increasingly popular state-based social insurance programs designed to expand access to long-term care should also improve pay and working conditions for caregivers, argues a new report from PHI, a national research and consulting organization focused on the direct care workforce. Washington state became the first in the nation to pass legislation to finance long-term services…