Workgroup – BOI Meeting, July 14, 2008

This last meeting of the Direct Care Worker Workgroup and the Bureau of Insurance was an informative one in that the spotlight was on direct care workers and their employers. Elise Scala from MainePASA and the Muskie School of Public Service at USM and Kurt Wise from MECEP talked about statistics pertaining to the direct care workforce. Things like the number of workers that receive some sort of assistance like MaineCare, the number of hours workers get a week and the fact that many workers do not want more hours because they may lose their MaineCare eligibility. It was mentioned that 72% of workers are part-time. Employers were represented by Joan Donahue Thompson from Hummingbird Home Care, Mollie Baldwin from Home Care for Maine, Eunice Spooner from Alpha One and Mary Lou Dyer from the Maine Association for Community Service Providers. They said that employers don’t find it financially feasible to provide insurance to their direct care workers because of low reimbursement rates. Employers also stated that the ones that can afford to provide health insurance can only cover their employees, not employees’ families. It was mentioned that the lack of benefits is also a concern for consumers. When workers worry about coverage or their health, they talk about it with people around them and their consumers. That in turn makes consumers worry. Joyce Gagnon from MainePASA and I talked about the challenges direct care workers face. Low wages, no benefits, being tied to the state budget and its shortfalls. I mentioned the cut to the homemaking program and that it meant a cut in hours each consumer receives which in turn equals a cut in wages for workers. I also said that it is a grave injustice to this workforce that we are not eligible for health insurance through the work we do. Several mentioned that the reimbursement rate paid by MaineCare is too low. MaineCare reimbursement for Direct Support Professionals used to include a line item for health insurance, but like everything else tied to the state financially, it got cut a few years ago. A suggestion was made to create a risk pool of all direct care workers in Maine. Why not? There are a lot of us out there across the state. The obstacles come when addressing the way to pay for it and with the different codes BOI set before us at the July 1st meeting. I’m hoping this meeting was an eye-opener for those around that table that don’t know too much about the Direct Care Workforce here in Maine. The next meeting is scheduled for July 30, 2008 at BOI in Gardiner. The meeting time is 9-11. The meeting is open to the public. If you’re interested in attending and need directions or more info on the workgroup, please send an email helen.hnsn@gmail.com.