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January 25, 2008
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In This Issue:
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Recent additions
Click here to see what's new in the Clearinghouse.
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HCHCW's Director Describes Crisis, Solutions
"Annual turnover rates for nursing assistants average 71 percent," says an article in the January issue (volume 11, issue 1) of Advance for Long-Term Care Management. "At an average cost of $2,500 per worker, this adds up to industry costs of over $1.5 billion annually. With strong evidence that health insurance coverage can significantly increase retention rates, the cost of covering nursing assistants may be more affordable than employers and state and federal governments think."
The article was written by Carol Reagan, national director of the PHI Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign, and Karen Kahn, PHI's director of communications.
"Coverage for Caregivers" notes that direct-care workers are more than twice as likely as other working Americans to be uninsured and outlines the problems caused by that lack of insurance for workers, employers, and consumers. It also lists some ways of expanding insurance coverage that have been identified by the HCHCW campaign.
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New Insurance Program Could Help Thousands of Vermont DCWs
A new health insurance program could benefit thousands of uninsured direct-care workers in Vermont.
The goal of Green Mountain Care is to cover 96 percent of Vermont's approximately 60,000 uninsured residents by 2010. Coverage began on November 1, 2007. By the end of December, 3,000 people had been approved for participation, including 1,187 who were enrolled and receiving premium assistance. The state subsidizes the cost of the premiums for individuals with incomes of less than 300 percent of the federal poverty level.
The rest of the story
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Health Care News from Pennsylvania
Health care reform has been getting a lot of ink lately in Pennsylvania. A January 21 letter to the editor of the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette voices support for Governor Rendell's Cover All Pennsylvanians (CAP) proposal and explains the need for better coverage for direct-care workers. An article in the previous day's Post-Gazette describes Governor Ed Rendell's new proposal for funding CAP. And an article in the January 19 Warren Times Observer describes a new Warren County coalition for health care reform, one of several being formed statewide to create the Pennsylvania Health Access Network. Health Care for Health Care Workers, which is part of that coalition, provided information and support for its last meeting.
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Website Offers Resources, Community to Family Caregivers
A new website for unpaid caregivers who are assisting family members or friends offers information, expert advice, and skill building; opportunities to connect with other caregivers; and a group calendar that allows members to request and receive help with specific tasks. Care Community was funded through a grant from the National Institutes for Health to reduce caregiver stress and illness.
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If you're reading this in a web browser, return to your e-mail to vote. Votes cast from the browser are not counted.
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Loosening immigration laws can solve the growing direct-care worker shortage
Agree 7%
Disagree 93%
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Dear Friend,
We all know how critically important - and rare - it is to have enough caregiving staff in nursing homes, but do you know what your state staffing requirements are or how they stack up against others? If not, you may want to check out the story below about Dr. Charlene Harrington's new report.
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Publication Charts Staffing Standards for All 50 States
A new publication from Dr. Charlene Harrington of the University of California San Francisco lists the state staffing standards for nursing homes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Laid out in chart form, Nursing Home Staffing Standards in State Statutes and Regulations summarizes the requirements for direct-care staff, as well as for licensed staff and caregiving staff overall. The report also estimates the difference between the state requirements and the federal standard for facilities with 100 beds, based on a formula that is explained in an endnote. Links are included to each relevant statute and regulation.
"The information is important for state advocates to have because any meaningful improvements in staffing will probably have to be made at the state level," Harrington told Quality Care/Quality Jobs. "For instance, Florida has the highest standards at this time, but the state did not set a minimum limit for RNs, so nursing facilities are substituting licensed vocational nurses for RNs because they are less costly. This can have a negative impact on quality."
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PBS Reports on Transforming Care by Empowering Caregivers
"The biggest difference between Green Houses and traditional nursing homes are [the direct-care workers], specially trained and empowered staff who assist the residents in everything from eating to toileting," said a PBS report on the Green House model of long-term care. The workers are called shahbazim, the plural of shahbaz, a Persian word meaning "royal falcon."
"At the Green House, the role of shahbaz turns upside-down the traditional nursing home staffing model, where administrators and nurses call the shots while the certified nursing assistants, or CNAs, do the grunt work," says the report. "It's the shahbazim who run the show."
What's more, shahbazim are paid $13 an hour, "about 40 percent more than the going rate here in Nebraska for CNAs," and the staff-to-resident ratio is "about a third higher than in the average nursing home." As a result, the report says, the retention rate for shahbazim who started in that position full-time is 100 percent.
Watch the video or read the transcript of the broadcast, which aired on the January 23 edition of PBS's News Hour with Jim Lehrer.
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Presenters Advocate for Higher DSP Wages at House Hearing
Members of the U.S House of Representatives were urged to support H.R. 1279, the Direct Support Professionals Fairness and Security Act, at a January 16 hearing on Capitol Hill. The bill calls for improving the wages and benefits of direct support professionals.
The hearing was held by the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health to examine the role of Medicaid in helping people with disabilities. According to a news release from the American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR), the organization behind H.R. 1279, most presenters focused on accessing community care, and some spoke of the need to better support the workers who provide that care. ANCOR member Ralph Gronefeld, the president and CEO of ResCare, urged committee members to support H.R. 1279, making the connection between low pay and high turnover rates among direct-care workers.
"This is a tremendous moral victory," said Renee Pietrangelo, CEO of ANCOR, in the release. "Members of the committee are discussing our bill, H.R. 1279, in the context of the critical role Medicaid plays in the lives of Americans with disabilities. This is a result of the grassroots support our providers, direct support professionals, and families have shown on the workforce wage issue."
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Virginia Advocates Call for Better PCA Pay
Virginia's media have been covering the need for better direct-care wages more than usual lately, mostly because of a proposed budget amendment that would increase wages for personal care attendants (PCAs) by 10 percent.
At hearings across the state last week, PCAs and the people they assist testified in favor of the amendment - and their testimony made it into many print and electronic news stories. "We had great turnout at the budget hearings," State Director David Broder of the Virginia Association of Personal Care Assistants told Quality Care/Quality Jobs. "All told, over 100 PCAs and their consumers attended 5 hearings across the state."
Coverage included:
A January 9 story in Southwest Virginia Today
A January 4 feature in the Bristol Herald Courier
A January 4 story in the Lynchburg News and Advance
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Pennsylvania Worker Association Resumes Publication of Newsletter
The Schuylkill County Direct Care Workers Association newsletter has resumed publication as of this month, to serve workers in eastern Pennsylvania.
The current issue includes reports about an award-winning elder abuse prevention program; last year's direct-care worker forum with U.S. Senator Robert Casey, which was organized by direct-care Brenda Nachtway; two direct-care worker conferences attended last year by representatives of the association; and more. The newsletter will be published quarterly.
To subscribe, contact Lori Michael at jlskm@verizon.net or 877-264-3505.
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February 23, 2008
National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) Annual Forum
March 27, 2008
2008 Joint Conference of National Council on the Aging (NCOA) and the American Society on Aging (ASA)
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