Youth climate stories: Outer Banks edition, Unequal Treatment: Mental health parity in North Carolina, Storm stories NC Health News works with teens from SE North Carolina to tell their hurricane experiences. LANSING At least 85,000 nursing home staff, home health aides and other direct care workers in Michigan will lose a $2 hourly pandemic pay raise next week if the Republican-led Legislature and . But our economic models show that wage increases for this critical workforce estimated to cost $9.4 billion in 2022 would actually pay for themselves, and save money in the long run. If we truly believe direct care workers are essential, we must act immediately to bring policymakers, researchers, employers, and consumers together at the state and national levels so they can develop policies and practices that value and reward the contributions direct care workers make each day to the American health care system and to older adults. At this juncture, while it is believed that reporting and enforcement can improve accountability, there is little to no public information about the effectiveness of different reporting and enforcement approaches in the direct care workforce to help inform future state actions. A publication of Plain-English Health Care, a division of Plain-English Media. COVID-19: Find the latest news on the outbreak by visiting the . creating, organizing and/or building career pathways that pay family-sustaining wages for direct care workers. Direct care workers: The budget deal includes $164.5 million to make permanent a pandemic-inspired pay raise for direct care workers. This paper includes some examples of policies states have implemented that address non-wage benefits within or alongside their wage strategies. We owe a special thank you to frontline health care workers, including direct care workers who provide nursing and health care for seniors and Michiganders with disabilities. Outside of BLS data, the Department does not have information on how many workers currently make $15 an hour. She cant drive or run to the store independently. Direct Care Worker One-time Bonus Fact Sheet_20220121. Framing the wage increase against the benefits a facility would see also justifies the change: Direct care workers perform important, skilled work. By the time we launched, this work had taken on a new urgency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which had shined a light on longstanding issues within the job sectorand in particular, how low wages make both recruiting and retaining direct care workers a challenge. Unfortunately, Direct Care Worker salaries in Michigan's mental health system are directly tied to Medicaid funding, which has not kept pace with the needs of our state. Mike Parson. Medicaid is the largest payer for facility-based and HCBS care, paying for 42.1 percent of all long-term services and supports in 2020. For example, Colorado and Louisiana have implemented both of the above strategies, using a provider rate increase to account for their direct care minimum wage requirements. It went okay, but the pay they just didnt want the pay.. So Im on a mission. Janet Mills announced a plan to increase MaineCare reimbursement rates for more than 200 residential care facilities, which will pay for this wage increase. Workers who were in poverty tended to have fewer job benefits, with 14.2% of direct care staff lacking health insurance and 84.4% lacking retirement benefits in 2019. No wonder these workers are in desperately short supply at a time when we need them the most. And now they understand that they arent alone, and that there are people who are working really hard on all of this. Change of employer: Step-By-Step Pay Equity Analysis Guide Product Guide By clicking Download Product Guide, Do you know what your employees really want for the holidays? Varying weekly work hours can also contribute to financial insecurity. Hillcrest Educational Centers, Inc. 3.2. The COVID-19 pandemic has had particularly detrimental effects on both patients and direct care workers in the long-term care industry. States have taken a variety of actions through provider rate increases and minimum wage policies through the Medicaid program as two strategies to address recruitment and retention. Because its not enough to just say thank youwe need to show support., A July 2022 PHI report found that of all the states that implemented some form of temporary hazard pay policy during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan was the only state to make that pay raise permanent, a significant victory that Luz credits to the work of the IMPART Alliance statewide DCW Coalition under the EJEC initiative. Secure websites use HTTPS certificates. That coordinated statewide campaign was successful: In September 2021, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer made the pay raise permanent, including $164.5 million in funding in the states budget to raise the wages of direct care workers by up to $2.35 per hour. Providers receive an enhanced payment based on criteria, such as achieving high scores on quality metrics (e.g.. Establishing a minimum wage or wage floor for all direct care workers (e.g.. A minimum wage for direct care workers that is a specific percentage or dollar amount above the state minimum wage (e.g.. She was an Emma Bowen Fellow with NC Health News in the summer of 2021 "If you are in a direct care agency or a direct care . In the April 22 address, Gov. Why do we undervalue workers who are the foundation of our health and economic well-being? 1.9 million (49.9% of) long-term services and supports (LTSS) direct care workers nationwide would get a raise if the minimum wage is $15 in 2025. Health care workers account for roughly one-third of this revered group of essential workers. Our new policy report takes an extensive look at today's direct care workforcein five installments. Advocates said the average starting hourly wage for a direct care worker is $11.44. The direct care worker documented that only one service was done. There is some hope for the future, even in these bleak times. Although the Governor must work collaboratively with the legislature to approve budgets and advance legislation, the executive and legislative branches can create policies that improve wages for direct care workers. While important both in the short- and long-term the paper does not address the following approaches to address direct care worker wages: This report presents two categories of state strategies that address direct care worker wages: 1. Having these connections to a national organization, as well as funding and resources, has been instrumental in helping Michigan move forward in the way that I think is necessary for any state that wants to move forward, Luz said, and has allowed Michigan to have coordinated, strategic statewide leadership that focuses on wages, non-wage benefits, professionalization, and culture change., Luz added, The partnership with PHI really helped propel all of this forward.. Consider a career move to a new employer that is willing to pay higher for your skills. ET, Physical Health Webinar Jan. 25, 2022, 2:30 p.m. But looking forward, Luz believes that the statewide coalition built through the EJEC initiative and with PHIs support has set up the states direct care advocates for future success. Addressing Wages of the Direct Care Workforce through Medicaid Policies. Eligible direct care workers include those providing home- and community-based services, working in intermediate care facilities (group homes) for individuals with intellectual disabilities ( ICF-IID ), and working in waiver programs like CAP/DA and CAP/C, personal care services, home health and other community-based and institutional settings Stay informed on the latest direct care news and updates from PHI. Annual pay for year-round direct care workers in LTSS would rise by up to $3,200 (in 2021 dollars) with a $15 minimum wage by 2025, as called for by the Raise the Wage Act. Seventeen years later, Stone has landed a place at Whittecar Group Home in Raleigh, where she and five other residents get the help they need to live their lives. 3.1. Lessons from Abroad: How Europeans have tackled opioid addiction and what the U.S. could learn from them. Thats what we want to promote here, and thats what we want to bring in is someone thats going to treat them the same way that we treat them.. A wage/benefit increase through rate increase or supplement to rate (as a payment outside of their provider rate), including two potential implementation approaches: 2. 7 reviews 9 salaries reported. So, theres a lot more work to be done in terms of raising not just the wage, but non-wage benefits, including health insurance and paid leave, and non-wage supports. Washington, DC: National Governors Association, Oct 2022. However, states are not able to direct managed care plans to pay providers according to specific rates or methods unless they obtain federal approval through an 1115 waiver or state directed payment authority (e.g., Wisconsin), which can enable payments to managed care plans that require expenditures be used to fund provider payments focused on direct care wage increases. Increasing your pay as a Direct Care Worker (DCW) is possible in different ways. Enforcement provisions can help ensure compliance and may be paired with sanctions (such as rate adjustments or fines) or civil action for non-compliant parties. Eligible direct care workers to receive wage increase from eligible HCBS providers, **This bulletin was updated on Jan. 27, 2022, to reflect changes in provider requirements and rate increase effective dates.**. In 2013, the country's two million home care workers had average annual earn-ings of $18,598.2 Average annual earnings for all wage and salary workers in the United States were $46,440.3 Has the direct care worker wage increase been extended? The direct care workforce represents a critical component of the United States employment market, yet pay remains low. These professionals Read more, Our data indicates that the highest pay for a Direct Care Worker (DCW) is $15.79 / hour, Our data indicates that the lowest pay for a Direct Care Worker (DCW) is $9.72 / hour. This includes the state's recent $2.35 per hour wage increase, which lawmakers intended to make permanent when preparing last year's budget. Emma Thorne. Our shared COVID trauma has led to a national consensus that direct care workers are our most valuable asset in keeping high-risk elders healthy and safe. Varying weekly work hours can also contribute to financial insecurity. The EJEC initiative couldnt have started at a more critical time. A new EPI report finds that a $15 federal minimum wage by 2025 would raise pay for one-half of direct care workers who provide long-term services and support (LTSS), or 1.9 million workers.. In 2018, Baker did sign legislation to raise the minimum wage of direct-care and other workers to $15 an hour; but it won't reach that amount until 2023. PHIs research found that after the policy took effect, the weekly take-home pay of home care workers in Michigan increased by almost $100; in contrast, in Ohio, a neighboring state that did not increase wages, home care workers take-home pay actually decreased in the same period. Direct care staff shall be at least 18 years of age unless certified in Virginia as a nurse aide. For a long time, Moffitt said he didnt know how much his brothers care providers received. Providers are advised to maintain documentation on precise amounts expended on each direct care worker. Recent research from LeadingAge shows that paying direct care workers at least a living wage must be our first step in reaching this goal. The direct care workforce represents a critical component of the United States employment market, yet pay remains low. All examples included in this paper have been validated by state officials. This continues the existing $2.25 per hour increase in pay for home health care workers and include a dime-per-hour increase. Giving direct care workers a raise is a win-win here's proof by Katie Smith Sloan and Robyn Stone, Opinion Contributors - 11/20/20 3:00 PM ET 3. As these facilities start to welcome visitors back, they face multiple challenges. Our countrys broken system of paying for care is partly to blame. The governor . The Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2021 (S.L. We reached out to all the different industries and said, were just robbing Peter to pay Paul, we all share the same workers and will have a much greater voice, and people will understand how important this need is in the crisis were in if we do a collective bill.. The Support Our Direct Care Workforce bill, would provide a Medicaid rate increase for the agencies that employ these direct care workers in a variety of settings: Adam Sholar from the North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association said that about two-thirds of all nursing home residents in the state receive Medicaid reimbursement. Providers are advised to maintain documentation of the percentage of the rate increase that was directly passed on to direct care worker wages. More by Mona Dougani. But providers cant do this alone. Despite categorizing it as a "continuation budget," Angelotti says the FY 2022 budget did include some new funding for expanded infant home visiting programs, raises for direct health care workers, program expansion to provide alternatives like receiving care at home or in a community setting to nursing home care, and funding to . High School Diploma or Less Master's Degree Bachelor's Degree Some College/ Associate Degree $0 $6,000 $12,000 $18,000 $24,000 $30,000 Salary By Education Level Photo credit: Rose Hoban, In debate over Down syndrome/abortion bill, disability groups struggle with how to respond, In Pitt County, theyre saying yes to home COVID testing. Developing both wage growth and career opportunities can facilitate economic mobility, address inequities and help improve the lives of these workers and those for whom they care. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Our nurses, direct care workers, and assisted living staff have . The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Article II is meeting Feb. 28 to discuss health & human services funding in the state budget. When I found out what the wages were, candidly, I was embarrassed, Moffitt said. Increases are passed to home care agencyemployees by way of parity statute. ET, Behavioral Health Webinar Jan. 24, 2022, 1 p.m. Mike Parson's proposed $15 per hour increase for state workers across the board. DENVER- Today, the Joint Budget Committee members and Chair Moreno approved a plan put forward by the Polis-Primavera administration and the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing that starting January 1, 2022, direct care workers funded with any state dollars working in-home and community-based settings are to receive a minimum wage of The entire care delivery system in the developmental disabilities field is built on the work performed by Direct Support Professionals. Hire better with the best hiring how-to articles in the industry. Though both HB 914 and HB 665 had an easy path through the House committee Tuesday, the future of long-term care facility worker pay and retention remains to be determined by the full House of Representatives and the Senate in the coming weeks. Although many health care providers have received rate increases through temporary federal COVID-19 relief and state funding, only a limited number of states have policies to ensure funds are passed on to direct care workers. Europe & Rest of World: +44 203 826 8149