http://phinational.org PHI works to improve long-term care -- by improving the jobs of home health aides, certified nurse aides, & personal care attendants. Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:02:35 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en PRESS RELEASE For immediate release July 6, 2009 Contact: Alex Olins PHI Northern New England Director Phone: (802) 655-4615 Email: aolins@PHInational.org Rewarding Skill and Improving Care  New initiative provides career advancement opportunities for direct-care workers in Vermont Burlington, VT -- Few issues are more important to people today than health care. Both from a personal and societal perspective, Americans ... http://phinational.org/archives/press-release-phi-to-manage-vermont-career-ladder-program/ On Friday, June 19, the House Committees on Education and Labor, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce released an 850-page discussion draft (pdf) of their health care reform proposal along with a four-page summary document (pdf). An AP story summarized the draft legislation by saying it would "impose new ... http://phinational.org/archives/house-releases-draft-for-health-care-reform/ On Tuesday, June 23, PHI will join other members of the Eldercare Workforce Alliance (EWA), in a National Call-in Day to send a clear message to Congress that a strong eldercare workforce is essential to real health reform. As an advocate for quality long-term care, your Member of Congress needs to ... http://phinational.org/archives/june-23-ewa-national-call-in-day/ [caption id="attachment_3931" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)"][/caption] Fifteen U.S. Democratic senators have sent a letter to Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Hilda Solis urging the extension of federal wage and hour laws to cover the nation’s estimated 1.5 million home health-care workers. Background Domestic workers were excluded from the federal Fair Labor ... http://phinational.org/archives/senators-urge-extension-of-flsa-to-home-care/ [caption id="attachment_3981" align="alignright" width="150" caption=" "][/caption] A delegation of state lawmakers, representing 700 of their colleagues across the nation, delivered letters to the Obama administration and Congress on Thursday, June 18, supporting comprehensive health care reform, including a public plan option, affordability protections, and shared employer responsibility for premiums. In a meeting ... http://phinational.org/archives/state-lawmakers-urge-comprehensive-health-care-reform/ [caption id="attachment_3941" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Official seal of ARRA"][/caption] As states struggle to balance their budgets in the face of a deep recession, there has been little good news for long-term care. At least three states, however -- North Dakota, Montana, and Oregon -- are using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment ... http://phinational.org/archives/states-use-stimulus-funds-to-help-direct-care-workers/ [caption id="attachment_3927" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Sens. Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA)"][/caption] Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Herb Kohl (D-WI) have introduced the "Home and Community Balancing Incentives Act," a bill that would offer enhanced federal Medicaid matching rates to states that are willing to implement home and community-based health care ... http://phinational.org/archives/senate-bill-would-channel-funds-to-hcbs/ Key committees in the House and Senate have unveiled plans to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable health care. In the Senate Senate Finance has released three papers outlining reform options and will soon choose among these to craft their legislation. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee has ... http://phinational.org/archives/congress-astir-with-plans-for-health-care-reform/ On May 26, after months of debate among state lawmakers, Iowa Gov. Chet Culver signed into law a bill that will impose a quality assurance fee on all for-profit and nonprofit nursing homes in order to leverage matching federal money. The state’s direct-care workers are among those who are expected ... http://phinational.org/archives/iowa-dcws-to-benefit-from-nursing-home-tax/ [caption id="attachment_3848" align="alignright" width="100" caption="Tameshia Bridges"][/caption] By Tameshia Bridges, Michigan Senior Workforce Advocate This tax year, PHI’s Michigan office launched the Earn, Keep, Save MORE outreach campaign, an effort to increase income for direct-care workers. The campaign equipped employers with information and resources they could use to educate their staff about federal ... http://phinational.org/archives/phi-helps-michigan-workers-connect-with-tax-resources/