Helen Hanson, Home Care Worker

Direct-care worker Helen Hanson, a long-time friend of PHI, wrote about planned federal spending cuts — and how they will affect Maine’s direct-care workforce — in a recent issue of The Times Record in Maine.

In her op-ed, Hanson urges Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe (R) and Susan Collins (R) to vote to extend funding for the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) program.

As much as $85 million in federal funding for MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program, is at stake if FMAP is not extended, Hanson writes. Without that money, Maine direct-care workers “would see their hourly wages cut, forcing many to find better paying work elsewhere.”

Consequently, the quality of home care in Maine will diminish, creating “real turmoil” among Maine residents who rely on such care, Hanson says.