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The average private-pay rates for home health aides remained $21 for the third straight year, even as the overall cost of long-term care continues to rise in the U.S., according to a newly released study.

Meanwhile, adult day service centers, which employ direct-care workers, saw their daily cost-of-care rate increase slightly to $70, from $67 in 2010.

The study was published last month by MetLife Mature Market Institute, the research wing of the insurance company.

Only about half of the cost of home health aide services actually goes to the aide herself. According to PHI research, the median hourly wage for home health aides was $9.85 in 2009, the last year for which data are available.

Long-Term Care Costs Rising Overall

MetLife’s study shows that, overall, the cost of obtaining long-term care in most settings continues to rise.

In 2011, the daily average rate for a private room in a nursing home increased by 4.4 percent, to $239. In assisted living communities, meanwhile, the average monthly rate rose to $3,477, an increase of 5.6 percent.

The CLASS Program, a voluntary long-term care insurance program that was passed as part of the Affordable Care Act, was created to help people pay for the skyrocketing costs of long-term care.

However, the Obama administration could not demonstrate that the program would be financially solvent. While advocates continue to press for the program, its future remains uncertain.

A separate MetLife survey on the “retirement income IQ” of pre-retirees (aged 56-65) found that many are misinformed about how they will be paying for long-term care: 42 percent of respondents incorrectly believe that such care is covered by health insurance, Medicare, or disability insurance.

– by Matthew Ozga

The CLASS program dodged another potentially fatal blow last week when a Republican-led repeal attempt was defeated in the Senate.

Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) blocked a request made by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) to advance a measure to repeal CLASS. Thune’s request needed unanimous consent to pass.

Additionally, AARP and 50 other aging and disability-rights groups sent a letter to House leaders last week urging them not to repeal the CLASS Act, the Affordable Care Act provision that would create the voluntary long-term care insurance program known as CLASS.

On October 20, PHI wrote that advocates of the CLASS Act remain hopeful that the program will eventually be implemented.

– by Matthew Ozga

On November 8, voters in Washington State overwhelmingly passed a ballot initiative that strengthens training requirements for most newly hired long-term care workers there.

Workers will now undergo 75 hours of state-mandated training, a significant increase from the previously required total of 34 hours.

PHI first wrote about the ballot initiative last month.

– by Matthew Ozga

The October issue of the PHI Training and Organizational Development (TOD) newsletter is available online.

The latest issue includes “Navigating Hard Times in Long-Term Care,” by members of the PHI TOD team, and “Easing the Distress of Room Changes,” by guest blogger Ann Wyatt, residential care policy and strategy consultant at the Alzheimer’s Association, NYC Chapter.

To read past blog posts and subscribe to the TOD newsletter visit the TOD blog.

– by Deane Beebe

Nearly 200 national organizations, including PHI, ran a newspaper ad in key Congressional districts urging readers to urge their Congress members not to cut Medicaid-funded long-term services.

Cutting Medicaid-funded long-term care services would deny millions of older Americans and people with disabilities “the choice to receive the services they need to live independently in their homes and communities,” the ad explains.

The Medicaid cuts could also lead to the loss of “thousands of direct-care jobs, putting a greater burden on individuals and families.”

The ad, paid for by AARP, ran primarily on October 31 and November 1 in newspapers including the Arizona Republic, Lansing State Journal, Annapolis Capital Gazette, Olympian, Columbus Dispatch, Nevada Appeal, Boston Globe, and Helena Independent Record.

The congressional “Super Committee,” tasked with proposing $1.5 trillion in federal budget cuts by November 23, is considering deep cuts to the Medicaid program (pdf).

– by Deane Beebe

PHI Massachusetts, a new section of the PHI PolicyWorks website, will provide news, facts, and other resources about the state’s direct-care workforce.

The site also contains information on several state-focused priorities, including educating policymakers about the direct-care workforce, transforming care environments, and building skills for workers.

Visitors can sign up for e-mails alerting them to new Massachusetts content at the PHI Massachusetts homepage.

The PHI Massachusetts page is the third state-focused page that PHI has introduced this year, following PHI New York and PHI Michigan.

“We are thrilled to have this platform to speak out about the unique challenges and opportunities facing Massachusetts’s largest occupational group,” said PHI Massachusetts State Director Amy Robins.

Task Force Bill Would Help Workers

One of those unique opportunities is “An Act to Establish a Task Force Relative to the Direct-Care Workforce,” a bill recently introduced to the Massachusetts legislature by State Senator Pat Jehlen (D).

If passed into law, the task force bill would require the state to take steps to ensure that it has an adequate workforce and infrastructure to meet the rising demand for long-term care services and supports.

The bill (S45) is covered in depth at the new PHI Massachusetts site.

A public hearing for the bill will take place on November 15 at 10:30 am at the Massachusetts State House.