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Jan 12, 2010
Direct Care Workers Left Out of Health Care Reform
MOTHERS pays attention to unpaid family carework, and particularly to the heavy consequences to the women and men who provide it. Paid carework also plays a critical role in our national welfare, and it too takes a toll. Home health aides, nursing home assistants, and others in the direct care field comfort and care for us, our spouses, parents, and those we love. Often, their work permits an elderly or ill person to remain at home and still get the medical attention and assistance they need. While saving billions of dollars in health care costs, this work also means that the care recipient can remain in familiar and cherished surroundings. Ironically, direct care workers are poorly paid, rarely have access to health insurance, and are not offered paid sick leave or family leave benefits to attend to their own health or deal with routine family needs.
Because direct care workers will be needed in greater numbers to meet the demands of our increasingly aging population, advocates worked with members of Congress to include helpful measures in the impending health care reform bill. Key provisions, regrettably, were dropped from the final version approved by the Senate. Specifically, plans for a commission to assess future needs and ensure a labor pool of qualified and available direct care workers were nixed. The Direct Care Alliance had this to say in its official statement:
"Given the significant shortage of direct care workers that is expected in the coming years, building a stable direct care workforce that provides high-quality care and services to the elderly and people living with disabilities should be a priority of the commission."
We are going to live longer, and our parents will too. If we want to live as well and comfortably as we can, we have no choice but to rely on both family members and direct care workers to take care of us. Failing to ensure access to basic health care for ourselves and the people on whom we will depend is a mistake for which we will pay. Failing to look out for direct care workers, by making sure they earn a living wage and have decent working conditions, is also a mistake for which we will pay. Taking care of each other has personal and national consequences, and bears directly on our quality of life individually and in this civil society. Continuing to dismiss the ethic of care as if it was optional or inconsequential, refusing to acknowledge its priority in all aspects of our private and public life, is a short-sighted and counter-productive approach. It will cost us money, physical comfort, and peace of mind.
'Til next time --
Your (Wo)Man in Washington
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