Letter to the editor: Higher wages can solve home care worker crisis

It may start with driving your mom to a doctor’s appointment or stopping by to make sure your uncle remembered to take his medication. Support from family is often the first step in keeping aging loved ones independent. However, at some point, the care needs may be more than you can provide on your own.

Every day, families realize they need additional support and call our agency to request services. Unfortunately, we often must turn them down. Today more than 98% of home care agencies report turning cases away.

Home care agencies cannot provide services without caregivers, and our industry is facing a crisis-level workforce shortage fueled in large part by our inability to provide competitive wages. Home care agencies want to compensate caregivers at higher wages, but are limited by the Medicaid reimbursement rate, which has been chronically underfunded for years. The average hourly wage for caregivers in Pennsylvania is only $13.40. We can’t compete with private employers who offer $15 or more an hour for much less demanding work.

Without significant investments to increase the Medicaid reimbursement rates, agencies will continue to turn down families in need. On behalf of all Pennsylvanians who need home care, please let your elected officials know they must prioritize funding for home care in this year’s budget. Visit www.pahomecare.org to send a message of support.

When the time comes and it’s your loved one who needs care, we want to be able to answer the call.

Vishal Desai

Green Tree

The writer is vice president of Anova Health Care Services Inc.