Regional Digest
Regional Digest
• The Washington County Health Department in Maryland says it will close its home healthcare program June 30 after more than 25 years of operation. The agency has been working since November to ensure that its 22 home-bound clients will be served by other medical providers, Nursing Director Linda Humbert told the Associated Press. After the closure, only Garrett County will offer publicly funded home healthcare in Maryland, the AP reported. Humbert said there are no private alternatives there. Eight other publicly funded home health agencies have closed in Maryland since implementation of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
• California Gov. Gray Davis has agreed to meet the demands of about 72,000 home care workers in Los Angeles County, granting them a pay raise to $7.50 per hour plus health insurance. But the gesture could prove meaningless unless the county’s board of supervisors agrees to chip in more money for the matching fund program, reported the Los Angeles Times. And the county has, for several years, said it won’t put any extra funding into the program, which provides home care for elderly and disabled clients. The federal government pays for almost half of the program, while the state pays for about 65%, and the counties usually pay the rest. But the county is arguing that the state should take responsibility for pay increases, the Times reported.
• State health officials have lifted the threat that the Niagara County Health Department in New York might lose its Medicare eligibility. The Certified Home Health Agency program, which contracts with private agencies to send home care aides to patients, ran into trouble in April when a patient suffered an injury in an accident involving some equipment an aide was using, according to the department. The county was put on notice April 4 that it had 45 days to implement a plan to remedy the problem, or Medicare would no longer cover the patients’ care. Last week, state inspectors approved the county's remedial proposal, which involves more stringent monitoring of contract agencies, reported the Buffalo News. As part of the program, the county will have to keep more thorough records of visits, and some county employees will oversee home visits in person at times, the department said.
• Teachers, nurses, and therapists could continue providing services in the homes of the mentally retarded without contracting through a home care agency under a pending bill in the Tennessee General Assembly. Legislation exempting such providers from a home healthcare license is needed to prevent interruption of services now provided through the state Department of Mental Health and Department of Retardation and Education, reported the Associated Press. Rep. Page Walley (R-Bolivar) said an opinion by Attorney General Paul Summers found it was illegal for teaching, speech therapy, and other services to be provided in the home unless done through a licensed home healthcare agency. The House Health and Human Resources Committee approved the bill last week by voice vote, sending it to House Finance Ways and Means. The bill is pending in the Senate Finance Ways and Means Committee.
• Employees of St. Anthony's Medical Center’s home health agency will vote soon to approve or reject representation by the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 655. About 100 workers, including registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, occupational therapist assistants, and physical therapist assistants are to vote. A simple majority of all those voting is needed to approve or reject the union, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. On Sept. 30, employees in three of the agency’s four offices will become part of a nonprofit home health agency to be formed by Unity Health System, the Post-Dispatch reported. St. Anthony's and its affiliate, Alexian Brothers Hospital, are leaving Unity Health System, effective June 30. The agency is the only one of the four locations remaining with St. Anthony's, reported the Post-Dispatch. Local 655 started its campaign with the home health agency in October, around the time that St. Anthony's was making it known that it was unhappy with its shrinking autonomy in the Unity system. On March 30, the Unity board voted to separate from St. Anthony's. The National Labor Relations Board in April found that St. Anthony's had interfered with a January organizing election involving another union, the independent United Health Care Workers of Greater St. Louis. The United Health Care Workers will conduct a second election this summer in an attempt to organize four employee groups at St. Anthony's Medical Center.
• Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson signed 21 bills into law, including new legislation to increase the hourly reimbursement rate for in-home personal care services. The measurement increases the hourly Medicaid reimbursement rate by $3.25 to $15.50, reported the Associated Press. The increase will take effect July 1. The $9.6 million plan signed last Wednesday increases funding to independent living centers, home healthcare agencies, and counties that employ the personal care workers, the AP reported. The increase means most of the workers, who make about $7 an hour, will see raises of $2 to $3 an hour. In addition to the rate increase, the bill would create a mechanism for the Department of Health and Family Services to designate personal care worker shortage areas across the state. Workers in those areas would be eligible for even larger wage increases, reported the AP.
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