The passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and its companion bill the Health Care and Education Act of 2010 may be the most significant — and also the most controversial and complex — social legislation this country has passed in decades.
While the legislation includes many general provisions that will benefit direct-care workers, it also includes provisions specifically addressing community-based long-term care services and support and the direct-care workforce, including:
- Demonstration grants to develop and pilot competency-based training curricula for personal and home care aides.
- Establishment of a Personal Care Attendant Advisory Panel at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of the creation of the new voluntary long-term care insurance program called the CLASS Act.
- Additional demonstration provisions to extend the Money Follows the Person rebalancing demonstration; independence at home program; and community-based collaborative care networks and transition programs.
- Grants for new and incumbent workers to provide career ladders and to states for comprehensive health care workforce development strategies.
| Resources | |
|---|---|
| Description | Link |
| A complete overview of relevant provisions. | PHI’s summary of direct-care workforce and long-term care provisions (pdf) |
| Detailed information about the creation of national advisory panels as well as grant opportunities for states and individual employers. | Health Reform Facts 1: Workforce Development and Training Opportunities for Direct-Care Workers (pdf) |
| Summary of a provision giving high-risk individuals the ability to access health coverage. | Health Reform Facts 2: Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (pdf) |
| An overview of the options available to small businesses to help them pay for employee insurance. | Health Reform Facts 3: Small Business Benefits Available to Eldercare/Disability Services Employers (pdf) |
| A summary of health reform provisions that will be phased in before reform takes full effect in 2014. | Health Reform Facts 4: Early Coverage Options for Direct-Care Workers and Their Families (pdf) |
| An explanation of the Community Choice First Option and the State Balancing Incentive Payments Program. | Health Reform Facts 5: Home- and Community-Based Services Expansion Offers Opportunity to Improve Direct-Care Jobs (pdf) |
| Steps that PHI recommends CMS should take to ensure adequate compensation for direct-care workers. | PHI testimony regarding rules for implementing the Community First Choice Option (pdf) |
| An analysis of how the Affordable Care Act can improve health coverage rates among the direct-care workforce. | Health Care Coverage for Direct-Care Workers: 2009 Data Update (pdf) |
| Medicaid Matters | |
|---|---|
| Description | Link |
| A fact sheet explaining why proposed budget cuts to Medicaid will have a disastrous effect on the direct-care workforce. | Medicaid Matters…for Long-Term Supports and Services (pdf) |
| An analysis of polling data showing that Americans overwhelmingly oppose proposed cuts to Medicaid. | Medicaid Matters…to the American People (pdf) |
| An fact sheet explaining why Medicaid is especially vulnerable to deep budget cuts. | Medicaid Matters…in Super Committee Deficit Reduction Deliberations (pdf) |
