President Obama’s proposed fiscal year 2011 budget outlines spending initiatives that address two of his top priorities highlighted in his State of the Union address: job creation and health care reform.

When Obama announced that “jobs must be our number one focus in 2010″ and implored Congress to “find a way to come together and finish the job for the American people,” referring to health care reform, there were clear implications for direct-care workers and long-term care providers.

“As jobs return to the center of the president’s agenda, we hope that Congress will ensure that any jobs bill includes training opportunities and adequate funding for the direct-care workforce,” said PHI National Policy Director Steve Edelstein.

“Creating jobs and providing training for these workers must be a priority now, to meet the nation’s demand for more than 1 million new direct-care positions by 2018. This, coupled with health care reform that provides affordable health coverage for these low-wage workers, is critical for building this workforce,” Edelstein said.

Spending Initiatives Would Affect Direct-Care Workers

The president’s budget — released on February 1, just days after his State of the Union address — outlines several proposed spending initiatives that would impact and provide opportunities for direct-care workers and their employers.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) budget includes:

• $25.5 billion for a six-month extension of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which would provide a temporary increase in the Federal Medicaid match to states. Significantly:
  • One in three direct-care workers live in households that depend on Medicaid benefits.
  • Medicaid accounts for 40 percent of total long-term care spending and thus has a critical impact on services for elders and people with disabilities, and on jobs for the direct-care workers who assist them.
• $290 million for community health centers to expand health care access to the uninsured, which would help the 3 in 10 personal care and home care aides who are uninsured.
• $102.5 million for a Caregiver Initiative to help families care for their aging relatives by expanding support for existing caregiver and supportive services to help elders stay in the community. This includes $50 million for programs that provide long-term services and supports.
• Continued support for national health reform.

“Good jobs for everyone” remains the theme for the Department of Labor (DOL), whose budget includes:

• $10 billion for job training and employment services authorized by the reformed Workforce Investment Act (WIA), including $107 million to create a Workforce Innovation Fund that would:
  • support and test “learn and earn” strategies such as apprenticeships and on-the-job training;
  • promote collaborations among regions and industries;
  • and support other innovations.
• $50 million to establish a State Paid Leave Fund within the DOL that will provide competitive grants to help states that choose to launch paid-leave programs cover their startup costs.
• Resources to allow DOL to explore ways to improve the collection of data related to the intersection of work and family responsibilities, a provision impacting the 18 percent of direct-care workers who are heads of household.
• $67 million increase (4 percent) for DOL’s worker protection agencies to ensure that they have the resources to meet their responsibilities to protect the health, safety, wages, working conditions, and retirement security of the nation’s workforce. This provision is particularly important to nursing aides, who have the highest incidence rate of workplace injuries and illnesses in the country.

– by Deane Beebe