Report Released

Maine's Bureau of Insurance released its report on the state of Direct Care Workers and their lack of health care insurance last week. The full report is lengthy, but well worth the read. Superintendent Mila Kofman describes the crisis in long-term care as "the perfect storm." It is the perfect storm in that workers leave because they can make better money in retail or other entry-level jobs. Turnover is high and costly to the employers because it costs a lot to constantly train new workers. Consumers also do not adjust well to having new workers in their home every few months. It is hard on them. Ms. Kofman is recommending a pilot program, linked in with Dirigo, to look into the effect of insuring direct care workers. She is recommending Dirigo because it is designed to help low-wage workers. As we all know, here lies the challenge, Dirigo needs more funding to stay afloat. This pilot will study the effect on the workforce, will having insurance help with retention? The first step is getting legislation going to fund the pilot. The next step will be to figure out which agencies in the state will participate. I think getting the funding will be the biggest challange, then figuring which agencies to participate will be the second biggest challenge. I don't have a timeline for any of this yet. As soon as I know more, I will post it. In the meantime, read over the report. It is very well done and covers what the workgroup discussed during its sessions over the summer.