PHInational.org

On June 12, Tracy Lawless and Simone Baer of PHI’s Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign in Pennsylvania spoke at the Consumers Union’s Cover America Tour press event in Pittsburgh. The two discussed the need for affordable health care for direct-care workers – and all Pennsylvanians.

In a speech that was partially captured on a short video of the event, Lawless spoke about the role health care coverage for direct-care workers plays in providing quality care for America’s greatest generation. “It has been shown before that affordable health care is key to keeping direct-care workers in their jobs,” she says. “This retention is critical to consistency of care.”

Read more, watch the video, read Lawless’s testimony in full, or comment

On May 13, Iowa Governor Chet Culver (pictured) signed HF 2539, a new law that will have a dramatic and lasting impact on the direct-care workforce. The bill, whose intent is to “progress toward achievement of the goal that all Iowans have health care coverage,” includes several clauses specific to direct-care workers.

This dramatic success flows from years of work on the part of Di Findley, the founder and executive director of the Iowa CareGivers Association; extensive advocacy efforts by direct-care workers and their supporters; and the support of PHI’s Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign.

Read more and comment on the Health Care for Health Care Workers website

Listen to the podcast at the HCHCW website 

“This workforce is uninsured at a rate of twice the general population,” says Carol Regan, director of the PHI Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign, of direct-care workers in long-term care services. “Yet they’re much more likely to be injured or sick on the job. They have the highest rate of injury and illness of any workforce: higher than truckers, higher than roofers, higher than miners. Which is astonishing.”

Regan outlines the health care dilemma faced by direct-care workers in a seven-and-a-half-minute podcast about The Invisible Care Gap, a recent publication from HCHCW.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) needs more input from direct-care workers on its recent report on the health care workforce, according to a letter (pdf) to the IOM from the Iowa CareGivers Association (ICA).

Retooling for an Aging America, the IOM’s report, did mention the need for more direct-care worker leadership, the ICA letter notes, but only within the workplace. “We strongly believe that there is a need for leadership outside the workplace as well through DCW associations or labor unions so workers can become leaders within their profession and their issues, concerns, and opinions considered directly.”

In addition, the letter urged the IOM to invite DCWs to review and comment on the report. “DCWs bring a unique perspective to these important issues that directly impact them and those they serve, and it is a perspective that has been ignored and devalued for far too long.”

The letter also suggests several other ways of carrying out or bolstering the report’s recommendations. 

Elise Nakhnikian, Senior Online Editor
enakhnikian@phinational.org

“According to the Department of Labor, direct care is the fourth-fastest-growing job category in the nation but is noted as one of the ‘10 worst jobs in America,’ next to those who clean portable restrooms,” says Judith B. Clinco in an editorial in the Arizona Daily Star. “Most direct-care workers receive inadequate training, inadequate wages, minimal or no benefits, no health-care coverage and face unrealistic job demands. These compassionate, caring workers are simply not honored or valued or respected.”

Neither consumers or employers can afford to pay what workers deserve, says Clinco. “The solution is for the federal government to subsidize wages and benefits for this work force so that regardless of age, illness or economic status, everyone who needs long-term care will have it. A starting wage of $15 per hour is not excessive.”

Clinco is the founder of the Direct CareGiver Association, a Tucson, Arizona-based nonprofit that provides education and support for direct-care workers.

Elise Nakhnikian, Senior Online Editor
enakhnikian@phinational.org

The Direct Care Alliance is looking for a staff member and a consultant to help it grow.

The fulltime position is for an administrative coordinator for the national, New-York based advocacy group. This person will have “a broad range of responsibilities that involve working directly with the Executive and the National Advocacy Directors of the Direct Care Alliance,” according to the job description. 

The consultant position is a six-month opportunity for a direct care worker specialist. The DCA is looking for someone with experience in providing direct care and “a passion for the profession of being a direct care worker,” as well as a good understanding of the challenges workers face. Job duties include helping with the design and implementation of the Voices Institute, the National Partnership of Associations and Coalitions, and other DCA activities.

Elise Nakhnikian, Senior Online Editor
enakhnikian@phinational.org