California Home Care Workers facing Wage Cuts

In California, cheers from SEIU and other homecare supporters over the state’s abandonment of a plan to slash wages for home health workers (”Wage Cuts Avoided for CA Home Care Workers“) gave way to renewed protests last week as the state revisited the plan after being told that it does not, in fact, violate the terms of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) (”U.S. backs off threat to withhold California stimulus money,” Los Angeles Times, May 20).

The new ruling came a day after California voters rejected a series of fiscal ballot initiatives intended by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to help fix the budget.

In response, Schwarzenegger brought back the plan to cut wages for home care workers and began announcing a series of draconian cuts to state programs that would include, among other things, the complete elimination of welfare and medical insurance for low-income families. “I understand that these cuts are very painful and they affect real lives,” he said. “This is the harsh reality and the reality that we face. Sacramento is not Washington — we cannot print our own money. We can only spend what we have” (”California faces its day of fiscal reckoning,” Yahoo! News, May 23).

SEIU and others react

SEIU and other homecare advocates have been swift to respond. On May 22 more than 5,000 homecare providers, care recipients, and disability and senior advocates rallied in front of the California State building in downtown Los Angeles to protest the proposed cuts to the state’s home care program.

On Tuesday — the very day that Schwarzenegger outlined a plan to cut funding for even more state programs– SEIU launched a planned month of protests, began a 48-hour vigil on the grounds of the state capitol, and filed a class action lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the State of California and Fresno County from cutting home care worker wages and reducing care hours for seniors and people with disabilities. The suit charges that the cuts will put these people at risk and violate the ADA and federal Medicaid law.

On Wednesday the Los Angeles Times ran a letter from Pauline Beck, the California home care worker with whom Obama prominently spent a day during his presidential campaign in 2007, in which Beck pleads with the President not to let Schwarzenegger cut home care workers’ wages and hours. SEIU also began airing a television ad (see video at top of post) this week in the Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Fresno media markets, which shows presidential candidate Obama with Beck at her client’s home. The ad praises Obama for appreciating the commitment of home care workers to their clients and then challenges Gov. Schwarzenegger as someone who “doesn’t see [elders and people with disabilities] at all.”

Dr. Susan Chapman, associate professor at the University of California—San Francisco Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, warns that California’s health care workers may be overlooked. “Some of the importance of the home care issue gets lost in the overall picture of California’s giant fiscal crisis,” she told PHI.

She described the plan to take money away from California’s In-Home Supportive Services program as “short-sighted,” since “it may create a situation where more people have to resort to institutional care, which is far more expensive.”

She also said the negative impact on homecare workers themselves may hurt the state’s economy. “These people have to survive, and their wages are already so low that cutting them further will only make these workers more reliant on the state’s support services,” she said. “So for various reasons, it’s not clear at all that the governor’s plan will result in budgetary savings. In fact, it may end up losing money for the state in the long run.”

Hurting the powerless

Bernadette Lynch, president of California Association of Public Authorities for IHSS and executive director for Sacramento County IHSS Public Authority, told PHI the timing of the planned cuts could not be worse.

“IHSS provides services to hundreds of thousands of clients, and the economy is already devastating California’s families, so this isn’t a time to be cutting necessary support systems or reducing those already-small wages,” she said. “The current pay for homecare workers doesn’t even amount to a living wage at this point, except in one or two counties. Reducing it will end up causing a dearth of providers, which will hurt consumers. It’s devastating.”

She continued, “As always, it’s the people who tend to be less heard, who don’t have a voice, who are basically powerless, that will be hurt by this.”

Help Fellow Home Care Workers in California

Governor Schwarzenegger proposes to balance his state's budget by cutting wages to California's home care workers. He wants to cut their pay by $4.10 per hour; from $12.10 down to $8.00. Tell Governor Schwarzenegger to balance California's budget some other way. Home care workers already make low wages. Tell him to find a different way to balance the budget. See President Obama walking a day in the shoes of Pauline Beck, a SEIU Home Care Worker in California.

MSEA-SEIU Action Alert

Come to the State House (3rd Floor) at Noon Tuesday, May 26, to Show State Legislators Whose Pay and Benefits They are Cutting On Tuesday, May 26, the Maine Legislature starts voting on the proposed two-year state budget cutting state workers' pay and benefits. Please bring your families to the State House (3rd Floor) at Noon Tuesday, May 26, so state legislators can look you and your family in the eyes before cutting your pay and benefits. Wear purple. We are looking at further actions at a later date to protect jobs, but it's important that you come to the State House (3rd Floor) at Noon Tuesday, May 26.

Andy Stern Delivers SEIU Message at Senate Finance Roundtable Hearing on Health Care Reform

On May 5 2009, SEIU President Andy Stern spoke to the Senate Finance Committee on Health Care Reform. President Stern reminded them that all Americans should have the choice to get needed medical care at home. Out of 89 per cent of Americans, 50 percent want to remain at home as long as possible. Health Care needs to be improved for the chronically ill. Chronic care should be included in reform to promote more home and community based options under Medicare and Medicaid. Reform should include more coordinated care, especially for the most chronically ill, especially those who are both Medicaid and Medicare patients. Reforming America's broken health care system requires training and upgrading the health care system. Our new health care system must expand its reach and capacity in order to deliver cost effective, preventive and primary care to our rapidly aging population, uninsured, and under insured Americans who currently go without adequate health care. There are more then 116,000 unfilled nursing jobs in Americas hospitals and more the 25,00 unfilled nursing jobs in our nations nursing homes. To keep pace with projected demand , our health care system will grow by nearly three million workers by 2016. Overall the number of Americans who need long term care and services will increase from approximately 10 million today to 15 million in 2020 to 27 million in 2050. A significant federal investment in appropriate training and education of the non physician work force is also needed, along with training in new technologies, teams, and systems must be provided to both incumbent health care workers and new recruits. Support should be provided to recruit and train a workforce that reflects the diversity of the community it serves.

Direct Care Workers in Iowa achieve Health Care Coverage

This year the Iowa CareGivers Association (ICA) helped lead a coalition of advocates for expansion of adult coverage as well as the funding of a premium assistance demonstration project for direct-care workers. While the priority of the legislature for this year was expanding coverage for children, we were able to get specific language included in the health reform bill (SF 389) that new coverage options for adults would be available for purchase by July 1, 2010. Affordable, quality coverage for adults will enable many direct-care workers in Iowa to have health insurance which they currently cannot afford. In addition, the 2009 General Assembly agreed to fund a demonstration project that will allow a minimum of 250 direct care workers in Iowa to participate in a premium assistance project. The project will assist those workers in paying for coverage that is currently available to them through their employer, but that they do not access due to its cost. The outline for the demonstration project was developed in 2008 by an advisory council that included the Iowa Caregivers Association, agencies of state government, and long term care employers. The advocates were also able to secure a number of seats on a reconstituted Legislative Health Care Coverage Commission. Details about the adult plan will be decided by the members of this Commission. The ability to serve on and provide technical support to this Commission will enable us to hold the legislature accountable for meeting the July 2010 goal. John Hale Policy Director Iowa Caregivers Association

Examining Medicaid as an Option for Health Care Reform

The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has released new related research papers examining the policy opportunities for expanding Medicaid to cover more low-income and high-need people in ways that would enable the program to serve as a platform for larger national health reform efforts.

A briefing held at the Kaiser Foundation yesterday discussed the issues that must be addressed as congressional leaders work on proposals for universal coverage that might include the expansion of Medicaid. Some of those issues included:

• Cost at the state and federal level
• Variance in federal match rate for states
• Eligibility in terms of income and health status
• Provider payment rates
• Balance between public programs and private insurance

The briefing is available via webcast.

Allison Lee

National Campaign Manager

HCHCW

alee@phinational.org

State Budget moves from Appropriations to Full Legislature

Appropriations Committee Replaces Across-the-Board 5 Percent Pay Cut with 20 Shutdown Days for Executive and Legislative Branch Workers, Freezes Merit Increases and Longevity Increases for Workers in All Three Branches of State Government, and Cuts Individual Health Insurance Benefits In one of its final votes on the proposed two-year state budget, the Appropriations Committee at 10:20 PM Monday, May 18, eliminated the across-the-board 5 percent pay cut on all state workers. In its place, the Committee imposed 20 shutdown days (10 per fiscal year) on Executive Branch and Legislative Branch workers, exempting so-called "Tier 1" workers such as those in institutions, law enforcement and public safety. For workers in all three branches of state government, the Committee voted to freeze merit increases and longevity increases for two years. The Committee allowed for comparable savings to be identified through contract negotiations. On health insurance, the Committee imposed tiered individual premiums as follows: Beginning October 1, 2009, those earning $30,000 or less will pay no premium, those earning $30,001 to $79,999 will pay 5 percent premiums; and those earning $80,000 and up will pay 10 percent premiums. Beginning July 1, 2010, those earning $30,000 or less will pay 5 percent premiums, those earning $30,001 to $79,999 will pay 10 percent premiums; and those earning $80,000 and up will pay 15 percent premiums. The Committee voted to establish a health credit premium program for implementation on July 1, 2010, where workers could earn back some or all of their individual premiums through healthy behavior. Under this program, to be developed by the State Employee Health Commission, workers earning $30,000 or less could earn their way back to fully paid premiums, those earning $30,001 to $79,999 could earn their way back to up to 95 percent paid premiums, and those earning $80,000 and up could earn their way back to up to 92.5 percent paid premiums. These cuts affecting state workers are now part of the overall two-year state budget that will go to the House and Senate for voting. We'll post more detailed information on Tuesday, May 19. from MSEA-SEIU's website At this point, I do not know what programs have been cut, nor how or if elders and disabled have been affected.