We all know that improving wages and benefits for direct-care workers would benefit not only the workers and their families but also the consumers who depend on them – not to mention the employers who often struggle to recruit and retain them. But who knew it could also be good for the insurance business?
In a page on its website that helps make the case for buying long-term care insurance, Genworth Financial notes: “In 2008 the average annual rate for a private nursing home room is $76,460 – up 17% since 2004. The demand and costs for in-home care are on the rise. And, we face an impending caregiver shortage that could drive costs even higher.”
The page is linked to a document outlining the impending care gap. (pdf) “This gap has the potential to negatively impact Americans and the American health care system in two ways: the costs of health care may rise significantly as the workforce supply diminishes, and the quality and availability of care may decrease, placing added pressures on family members and friends to care for loved ones who may require long term care,” it says.
Genworth sells long-term care insurance and other financial products.
Elise Nakhnikian, Senior Online Editor
enakhnikian@phinational.org
Yeah, where I work, I think in the last 3 months, we have had a 60% turn over rate. Unfortunately however part of the problem is, we get these young girls fresh out of high school that took the NA class thinking it would be fun and easy to care for those in a nursing home, and then they turn around and find out its not as much fun as they thought it was. Unfortunately now, it is a younger work force out there, and they want more, and employees aren’t recognizing this.
Another side of the story is that higher wages are also good for those companies who are providing workers’ compensation and liability insurance policies to the agencies providing in-home care. Those policies are based on the size of the payroll for the agency – the higher the total wages paid, the higher the premiums for the policies. This may be a sustainable model in private-pay situations, but when the funding for the in-home care comes from fixed rate state / federal run medical assistance with zero flexibility for increase, the agencies are put between a rock and a hard place. We, for example, used to have wage rates of $10+/hr (3 – 4 years ago), but were forced to decrease our wages because of the rising costs of insurance premiums we had to pay and the un-willingness of the state to budge on reimbursement rates. All we can do is continue to lobby the government on behalf of our workers, and pray that something gives down the line.