Monthly Archive for October, 2004

Online Tool Calculates Cost, Benefits of Wage Increases

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on October 15, 2004
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October, 15, 2004 - With Medicaid costs rising rapidly, state policymakers are understandably reluctant to increase wages for Medicaid-funded direct-care workers, even when those wages are too low to lift workers and the families they support out of poverty.This creates a dilemma not only for workers but for employers and policymakers, since low wages make it more difficult to attract enough qualified workers. Finding sufficient workers is especially challenging in the critical and growing arena of home- and community-based personal assistance services, where wages tend to be lower and full-time work harder to find than in nursing homes and other institutional settings. Furthermore, states are obligated under federal law to pay Medicaid-funded workers enough to maintain a stable workforce of sufficient size to meet the needs of Medicaid beneficiaries, as underscored in the recent Ball v. Biedess ruling (for details, go to http://www.directcareclearinghouse.org/news.jsp#az82004).

But the burden to states of raising wages is not quite as onerous as it might seem. Every dollar a state invests in wages is partially offset by savings in other areas, including increased matching federal Medicaid funds and higher personal income tax contributions by higher-earning workers.

A new online tool allows state policymakers and other long-term care stakeholders to estimate the real costs and benefits of increasing wages for Medicaid-funded personal assistance workers. Free of charge and easy to use, the Return on Investment calculator estimates the effect on a wide range of factors – including, staff turnover costs, retention rates, and the number of families who would be leaving poverty – of a proposed wage increase of any size. The tool works for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

To access the calculator, which was created by the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute with funding from the Centers of Medicaid and Medicare Services, go to:
http://www.directcareclearinghouse.org/roi/index.html

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DCA Conference Unites and Inspires Worker Advocates

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on October 13, 2004
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October 13, 2004 - In a striking display of the power and promise of the growing movement to improve job quality for direct-care workers, more than 130 long-term care workers, consumers, employers and advocates gathered in Washington, D.C. for the national conference of the Direct Care Alliance, which is staffed by PHI. For the rest of the story, click here.

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