Colorado Activists, Lawmakers Pursue Bill of Rights for Home Care Workers

Colorado Politics | By Hannah Metzger

Home care workers in Colorado are fighting for a bill of rights to assure better pay and working conditions for those who provide aging adult and disability care.

State lawmakers and activists from Colorado Care Workers Unite and SEIU Local 105 gathered at the state Capitol Tuesday to demand the creation of a "Home Care Worker Bill of Rights" during next year’s legislative session. They want the legislation to cover personal care aides, home health aides and nursing assistants.

“This care industry is broken and it almost broke me,” said Melissa Benjamin, a home care worker of 20 years and founding member of Colorado Care Workers Unite. “This year, 60% of home care workers will leave this industry. It’s long past time to pay attention.”

While the specifics have not been decided, advocates said the bill of rights would include a higher minimum wage, protections from bad bosses, a right to safe workplaces, minimum benefits, such as paid time off, and decision-making power for workers to improve the home care industry.

Benjamin said low pay and unsafe working conditions are driving home care workers away in record-high numbers, creating a serious worker shortage. By 2028, Colorado will need to fill 116,100 job openings in direct care due to workers leaving the industry and the state’s elderly population increasing, according to the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute.

Cassandra Matthews, a leader at Colorado Care Workers Unite, said she worked in home care for 23 years before recently leaving the industry because she could not afford to support her family.

“We are at the frontlines taking care of disabled people, elderly people, people who have no one at home to help them. We are needed, but we are not getting paid,” Matthews said. “I worked 16 hours a day taking care of other people’s families and not having time to take care of my own, because that’s the only way that I could afford to pay my bills. It’s not right.”

Another health care worker of 40 years, Angie Fulmer, said she’s had employers refuse to pay her for staying at a patient’s house too long even when they were suffering life-threatening medical conditions, and had employers threaten to revoke her care license for refusing to visit patients after she was exposed to COVID-19.

A formal bill title has not yet been filed in the legislature, but advocates said 39 Democratic lawmakers already signed on in support of the "Home Care Worker Bill of Rights," including Sen. Faith Winter, Rep. Lisa Cutter, Rep. Emily Sirota, Rep. Kyle Mullica and Rep. Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez — in addition to over a dozen candidates currently running for office.

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Colorado Issues Final Rules on Benefits and Employer Participation Requirements for Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program, Clarifies Private Plan Option

Colorado’s rule making process regarding its new paid family and medical leave insurance program (“FAMLI”) continues. On August 26, 2022, the state published final regulations on benefits and employer participation requirements (“Benefits Rules”), which provide the most concrete guidance to date regarding the benefits to which employees will be entitled under the FAMLI program as of January 1, 2024. 

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LTHH Medicaid Stakeholder Meeting Announced on the OCL email Blast

OCL is initiating stakeholder engagement for Long-Term Home Health through an introductory meeting. The meeting will convene Long-Term Home Health stakeholders and Office of Community Living leadership. The discussion will include stakeholder engagement preferences, identify topic areas and priorities, etc.

The meeting will be held:
Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022
1:30-2:25 p.m. MT

Join via Google Meet

Join by Phone:
1-336-948-0083, PIN: 528 778 875 #

Home Health Stakeholders Voice Their Concerns To CMS Over Medicare Advantage Program

Home Health Care News | By Joyce Famakinwa
 
Home health stakeholders – and many others – recently had the opportunity to weigh in on the way Medicare Advantage (MA) is currently administered by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
 
The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and Moving Health Home are among the two groups that answered CMS’ request for information.
 
In July, CMS released that request for information seeking public comment on the MA program. Comments were to be submitted by Aug. 31, 2022.
 
“The significance is that CMS is beginning to evaluate the plans more closely in terms of provider relations and approaches to health care delivery for enrollees and how the plans can improve health care services for these beneficiaries,” Mary Carr, vice president of regulatory affairs at NAHC, told Home Health Care News in an email.
 
Broadly, the comment period gave home health stakeholders the opportunity to affect potential future rulemaking on various aspects of the MA program. This is notable because Medicare Advantage enrollment continues to grow — having more than doubled over the last decade.
 
In fact, Medicare Advantage has 28.4 million beneficiaries, or 45% of the Medicare population. By 2030, Medicare Advantage is expected to have over 52% of total Medicare enrollment, according to data from the research and advocacy organization Better Medicare Alliance.
 
With enrollment on the rise, it’s likely that providers will become even more entangled with health plans offering Medicare Advantage. And as this happens, it’s the responsibility of providers and plans to work together, NAHC President William A. Dombi wrote in the organization’s comments to CMS.
 
“It is imperative that the [MA] plans and the provider community work together to ensure patient-centered, high quality health care is provided to all beneficiaries,” he said.
 
This comment period is also significant because it gives home health stakeholders the floor to share their point of view. In the past, providers have been vocal about the challenges surrounding MA.
 
Specifically, providers have struggled with receiving fair rates for the services they deliver. 

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