Neil Johnson, Executive Director, MN HomeCare Association
Neil Johnson, executive director of the Minnesota HomeCare Association, writes about the need to invest in our home care workforce.
As state decision-makers look for ways to create new jobs in a market with unrelenting unemployment, they may be overlooking ones that are hiding in plain sight.
According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, the top three job vacancies in the state are registered nurses, personal care assistants, and home health aides. The job category at the top of the list varies by region, but all three categories are consistently in the top three.
One could make the case that home care is the economic engine of many Minnesota communities. Over 70,000 Minnesotans of all ages currently receive home care services; this service sector accounts for 200,000 jobs in the state. It’s a growth industry that impacts far more people than hospitals or nursing homes and is sure to be even more in demand as over 78 million Baby Boomers approach retirement.
The Invisible Industry
Yet home care is an invisible industry. Unlike hospitals or long-term care facilities, there are no brick-and-mortar buildings to see and no high-profile fundraising drives. By contrast, home health aides, skilled nurses, and personal care assistants quietly go about their work in the privacy of clients’ homes.
That’s why even though home care is both cost-efficient and patient-preferred, reimbursement rates from the state fall short of the actual value of services provided.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s latest $370 million Health and Human Services budget includes a 2.5 percent cut in pay for home care aides and personal care assistants, putting wages for these jobs even further behind the eight ball. Lower wages will inevitably make it harder for families to find caregivers.
Robust Home Care Industry Saves Money and Time
Yet home care saves taxpayer money by being a viable alternative to more costly care at in-patient facilities. It’s also been proven to prevent unnecessary or prolonged “revolving door” hospital stays and emergency room visits for those recuperating from illness or surgery.
Not many people realize that eldercare now accounts for more lost work hours than childcare. The average length of family caregiving is 4.3 years. This is while these family members work full time at their own jobs. So if professional home care services aren’t available, there will be a negative economic ripple effect on businesses large and small.
Already, one-fifth of today’s workers are elder caregivers. Demographic trends indicate that more and more employees of all ages will assume the role of family caregiver for our increasingly old population.
The stats tell the story: in 2004, there were 36.3 million people 65+ in the U.S., or 12 percent of the population. By 2030, this number is expected to increase to at least 20 percent of the population, or about 71.5 million older Americans.
Additionally, home care is the preferred care choice for 95 percent of seniors recently polled by AARP.
The burgeoning need for home care services is not going to lessen. Home care offers a win-win solution of needed jobs and cost-effective health care that we can’t afford not to see.
Neil Johnson is the executive director of Minnesota HomeCare Association, the statewide voice for the home care industry. Contact him at njohnson@mnhomecare.org. Listen to an intro how-to audio about home care on: www.mnhomecare.org.
