PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
National Healthcare Workers’ Campaign Reports on America’s Most Dangerous Job: Caring for the Greatest Generation
Report Shows High Rates of Injury, Inadequate Health Coverage May Result in Caregiver Shortage
Bronx, NY, May 20, 2008— Direct-care workers — those who are now caring for America’s greatest generation in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult day centers, and private homes — have one of America’s most dangerous jobs. Rates of job-related injury and illness among these workers exceed those of construction workers, truck drivers, firefighters, and police officers. Yet one in three of these workers has no health insurance, says a recent report from the PHI Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign. This contributes to an ever-growing shortage of caregivers for America’s aging population.
The sobering report — Invisible Care Gap: Caregivers without Health Coverage — provides a snapshot of the health insurance status of our nation’s caregiving workforce, 90 percent of which is female. Based on the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics, the report
reveals that:
- Nurse aides have the highest rates of workplace injuries and illnesses in the country, making it America’s most dangerous job.
- Nearly 30 percent of direct-care workers have no health insurance coverage, twice the rate of the general population.
- The country’s fastest-growing workforce—jobs providing in-home personal care services—is the least likely to have health coverage.
- Direct-care wages are so low (median hourly wage of $9.56/hr) that nearly 30 percent of workers live in households with poverty or near poverty-level income.
Cindy Ramer, a certified nursing assistant from Denver, IA, knows all too well about doing without health coverage. Ramer’s and her late husband’s medical bills forced her into bankruptcy. “Whether it’s me as a direct-care worker, or anyone else, none of us should be put in a position without adequate and affordable health care, where we are forced to file bankruptcy due to medical debt … and actually denied the opportunity for necessary medical care,” Ramer said.
Meanwhile, Lori Michael who heads Lori’s Angels, a home care agency in Schuylkill Haven, PA, said that she has a “terrible time” finding and keeping employees because of the lack of health insurance. Michael said that most of her employees have no health insurance and can’t afford the $50 per month premium. “I lose people all the time to jobs that offer health insurance,” Michael said. “People would rather take a job at Wal-Mart and get some health coverage.”
By 2016, more than one million new direct-care jobs will be needed, resulting in a workforce that will surpass the need for teachers from K-12. These workers will be needed to care for a ballooning population of aging Baby Boomers.
“Creating good jobs with insurance coverage is critically important to all Americans, who will need the help of the paid caregiving workforce for themselves and their loved ones in the coming years,” said Carol Regan, director of PHI’s Health Care for Health Care Worker’s Campaign. “Health insurance is critical to stopping the cycle of turnover and attracting new workers to care for our growing population of elders and people with disabilities.”
The full report, Invisible Care Gap: Caregivers without Health Coverage, is available by visiting www.coverageiscritical.org.
About Health Care for Health Care Workers:
Health Care for Health Care Workers, an initiative of PHI, seeks to expand health coverage for workers who provide support and assistance to elders and people living with chronic conditions and/or disabilities. HCHCW believes that one way to ensure quality long-term care services and supports is to provide quality direct-care jobs—jobs that offer health coverage and pay a living wage.
About PHI:
PHI works to improve the lives of people who need home or residential care—by improving the lives of the workers who provide that care. For more information, visit www.PHInational.org.
Contact:
Carol Regan, National Director for Health Care for Health Care Workers, 301-587-1225, cregan@PHInational.org>.
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