Loopholes in COVID-19 Unemployment Program Threaten to Deplete Home Care Workforce

In the past two weeks, nearly 10 million people have filed for unemployment, pushing the jobless rate “certainly higher than at any point since the Great Depression,” according to the New York Times. These unprecedented times have prompted unprecedented benefits: Thanks to new pandemic unemployment assistance (PUA) created by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic […]

Latest Trump Immigration Proposals Raise Alarms in Home Health

Since President Donald Trump took office last year, home health industry advocates have been raising red flags over his administration’s positions on immigration. The latest proposals, related to so-called “chain migration” and the expiration of protected status for Haitians, are no exception. Both The New York Times and Kaiser Health News recently reported on the […]

Monday Briefing: Medicaid Criteria Pushed Back Three Years

Welcome back to the Home Health Care News Monday Briefing. Catch up on the latest industry with our top stories from last week and see what caught our eye around the web. Start your week with this New York Times article that focused on a study about “daughter care”—the essential role that daughters play in […]

NY Times: No Place Like Home for Rehab

There has long been a debate over sending a patient to a post-acute facility versus utilizing at-home rehabilitation following joint replacement surgery. However, being at home, even if someone lives alone, can be more beneficial than going from the hospital to a post-acute facility, according to a recent article from The New York Times. The number […]

NYTimes Criticizes ‘Absurd’ Fight Against Home Care Wage Rule

Though various home care agencies and associations loudly disagree, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision not to consider Home Care Association of America v. Weil is cause for celebration, according to The New York Times’ editorial board. In fact, exempting home care workers from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s so-called “companionship” clause is actually “a vital […]

MacArthur Grant Goes Toward Home Care Worker Rights

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation recently awarded a prestigious $625,000 grant to a home care advocate who has championed the rights of domestic workers, including home health aides, a New York Times article reports.  Ai-jen Poo, the director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, won the 2014 MacArthur “genius” grant last week […]

NY Times: Transition Coaches Reduce Readmission Rates By Up To 40%

Transition coaching — helping patients successfully discharge from hospital to home — has helped reduce hospital readmissions by 20% to 40% in some cases, according to a New York Times article. Transitions from one care setting to another often go awry and sometimes result in a hospital readmission — as patients are sleep-deprived and medicated […]

NY Times Op-Ed: Home Care Wage Protections A Win, Timing is Problematic

While the recent decision by the Labor Department to include home care workers among those who receive minimum wage an overtime protections is being seen as a “victory” for home care workers, the timing could be problematic, writes the New York Times editorial board.  In an op-ed published this week, the Times editors raise concerns […]

New York Times Column: Home Care Wage Rule Ignites Debate

Assertions that wage and overtime protections granted last week for home care workers are bad for business are unfortunate, writes NY Times columnist Nancy Folbre in an opinion column weighing in on the changes this week.  Citing opposition from several business associations and congressional republicans in response to the change in rules that allow home […]