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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. Read the full story

Maine's state flag

Maine has passed a new law mandating the creation of a work group to review the quality of direct-care jobs within home and community-based programs administered by the state’s Department of Health and Human Services. Read the full story

Higher wages, more hours, and travel-cost reimbursement are the strongest predictors of turnover among Maine home care workers, according to a study published in the October 2009 issue of The Gerontologist. Read the full story

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
September 22, 2009

Contact:

Deane Beebe, PHI Media Relations Director
718.928.2033 / dbeebe@PHInational.org

David Ward, Direct Care Alliance
212.730.0741 / dward@directcarealliance.org

Maine Grant to Expand Insurance to Direct-Care Workers

An $8.5 million federal grant to the state of Maine will expand health coverage to Maine’s direct-care workers. The grant, which was announced on September 3 by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, will also cover seasonal workers, and is expected to extend coverage to about 3,500 Maine residents. The state is eligible for renewal funds for each of five years, up to a total of $42.5 million. Read the full story

Allison Lee, national campaign manager for the PHI Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign, recently testified before the Maine Health and Human Services Committee in support of LD1364 (rtf).

LD1364 is a bill that would standardize the wage rate for all personal assistance workers at a minimum of $12 per hour. Advocates are encouraging the state to use federal stimulus monies to fund the initiative.

Lee’s testimony:

Testimony of Allison Lee,
National Campaign Manager
Health Care for Health Care Workers
PHI

Prepared for the Maine Health and Human Services Committee
April 28, 2009

Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony in support of LD 1364 – An Act To Stimulate the Economy by Expanding Opportunities for Personal Assistance Workers. PHI is a national non-profit that works to improve the quality of eldercare and disability services through improving the jobs of the direct-care workforce. For the past two years, I have been working with the Maine Direct-Care Coalition on a campaign to secure affordable, quality health care benefits for direct-care workers in the state.

Providing decent paying jobs with benefits is the key to providing quality care for Maine’s most vulnerable citizens. In 2006, according to the Maine Department of Labor, there were 23,182 direct-care workers employed in the state. However, that number underestimates the total number of workers as it does not count many workers who are employed directly by a consumer.

PHI analysis of the Maine occupational projections predicts that positions for personal assistance workers are expected to increase by 45% over the decade ending in 2016. These jobs make the list of the top ten fastest-growing jobs in the Maine economy and also the list of the top ten occupations expected to produce the largest number of annual openings. Yet, indicators show that the workforce is shrinking. In order to meet the growing demand for services, direct-care worker jobs must pay a decent wage to attract new entrants into the workforce.

While real wages for these workers have improved by roughly 4 percent over last decade, they are still under $9/hour. In addition, 40 percent of direct-care workers nationwide live in households that rely on one or more public benefits, such as Medicaid or food stamps, reflecting the heavy public subsidies required to compensate for the low wages and inadequate benefits received by most of these workers.

This predicted occupational growth presents an economic opportunity for the state of Maine. Direct-care worker jobs are the jobs of the future—they can’t be outsourced; they are recession‐proof and they can be powerful economic drivers improving the lives of many low‐income families and spurring community revitalization.

Maine can realize additional economic and social benefits by investing in direct-care jobs—higher tax revenues, reduced reliance on public benefits by direct-care workers, more efficient use of Medicaid and Medicare funds due to lower turnover costs, better retention of workers, and improved quality of care for aging and disabled populations.

LD 1364 is an important investment in a critical workforce. With the increased federal match that will be coming to the state, Maine would be wise to leverage state dollars to make a great impact on a vital economic engine – the direct-care workforce.

The Maine State House in Augusta

Supporters of a bill that would transform Maine’s long-term care system by directing more state money toward home-based care rallied for a news conference at Maine’s State House on Monday, April 6.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Matt Peterson, D-Rumford, and a bi-partisan list of co-sponsors. Its supporters include Maine’s AARP, the Office of Elder Services, the Maine Women’s Lobby, and the state’s personal care attendants — who say they think they would receive benefits and better pay if more state money went into home-based care (“Bill Aims to Overhaul Maine’s Long-Term Care System by July 2010,” Maine Public Broadcasting Network, April 6). Read the full story