Lawmakers Zero in on Immigration to Address Caregiver Crisis

McKnights Home Care / By Diane Eastabrook

Momentum could be building in Washington to address the troubled immigration system as a way to solve the nation’s caregiver crisis. 

Last week, both Republican and Democratic senators acknowledged that current immigration policy is making it difficult to recruit and retain foreign healthcare workers during a hearing in Washington. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, said there continues to be a backlog in processing green cards for critical healthcare workers and caps on employment-based visa categories.

“Many of the federally recognized central workers that we relied on at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic still risk uncertainty with their legal status in America,” Padilla said during the hearing. “In our hour of need, the United States is effectively discouraging potential healthcare workers from trying to come to and work in the United States. That needs to change.”

Last year, Padilla and Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) introduced the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act, which established a mechanism for immigrants who worked as essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic to apply for and obtain permanent resident status. To be eligible, the workers must have earned income at any time during the pandemic that was deemed essential by the Department of Homeland Security or a state or local government. New York is one state that deemed home- and community-based caregivers as essential under a bonus program the state enacted over the summer. 

Home care advocates, including the Home Care Association of America and LeadingAge, have been aggressively advocating for immigration reform as a way to address the shortage of caregivers. However, both groups favor the establishment of a new visa category for direct care workers that might allow agencies to either sponsor workers living outside the U.S. now or currently working here under another visa category.

An estimated 30% of the nation’s 2.3 million home care workers are immigrants, according to PHI National which tracks the direct care industry. 

Help PCHETA Pass the Senate!

From NHPCO

With Members of Congress back in D.C. following the August recess, now is an important time to engage your Senators and urge them to support the bipartisan Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (S. 4260).

As a reminder, PCHETA was reintroduced in May by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV). This legislation would make historic investments in the hospice and palliative care workforce. It would improve training and education for health professionals in palliative care and hospice, enhance public awareness and disseminate information to patients, families, and health professionals about the benefits of palliative care, and expand research on palliative care.

Your voice is needed to ensure PCHETA finally passes the Senate this Congress. As a hospice and palliative care advocate, you can play an invaluable role in educating your Members of Congress and their staff on why passage of PCHETA cannot be delayed further.

Can you please take a minute to complete our action alert and urge your Senators to cosponsor PCHETA?

Ask Your Senators to Support PCHETA!

Thank you for your commitment to advocacy for hospice and palliative care patients, families, and providers. Your work is helping to ensure access to quality end-of-life care across the country.  

Best,

Natalie Williams

Manager, Legislative Affairs

571-895-4579

Colorado Economic Forecast

Last week, the Joint Budget Committee heard the September Economic Forecast from Legislative Council Staff (LCS) and the Office of State Planning and Budgeting (OSPB).

Under the presented forecasts, the economy is in a transitional period from rapid post-recession recovery to a trend of slower growth. A recession is still not forecasted for Colorado, despite national trends. However, unemployment has risen slightly in the state and inflationary pressures continue. Inflation now outpaces wage gains as real wages decline.

In the current fiscal year, revenue collections broke records but the state does not expect much additional growth. Both LCS and OSPB expect revenue projections to increase for all fiscal years relative to the June forecast. This means TABOR refunds are also expected throughout the forecast.

Looking forward to the FY 2023-24 budget, General Fund revenue is expected to exceed current collections and the Referendum C cap (which constrains the state to inflation) will incorporate the current inflation rate at 8.2%.

The General Assembly is projected to have $1.08 billion (+5.6%) to spend or save in FY 2022-23. However, once you account for caseload growth, costs in K-12 education, increases in compensation and provider rates consistent with those in the last fiscal year and costs for capital construction, the projected surplus is much lower at $85.1 million (+0.4%).

Attached is a copy of the full forecast presentation slides.