Regional Digest
Regional Digest
• Since 1996, the demand for visiting nurses and home health attendants in New Jersey has grown steadily, providers say. But they say the amount of state funding hasn’t nearly kept pace, reported the Star-Ledger of Newark, NJ. "Home health agencies throughout the state of New Jersey are in crisis," Diana Brown assistant director of client services for Care at Home (East Orange, NJ), told the Star-Ledger. The home health industry in the state maintains that reimbursement payments given to agencies are too low, making it difficult to attract skilled people into the field, the Star-Ledger reported. Agency officials say they are putting more clients on waiting lists than ever before and are being forced to work with rival businesses for the first time to ensure adequate coverage. But state officials counter that the reimbursement rates paid to the agencies are accurate, the Star-Ledger reported.
• Home health agencies in Connecticut are reporting financial difficulties that threaten patient care and the independence of people who rely on the services to live at home. And agency officials blame much of the problem on the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, reported the Associated Press. Another problem, they say, is inadequate reimbursement from the state for Medicaid services. Meanwhile, the agencies that are nonprofit and not affiliated with larger organizations that could absorb some of the deficit are struggling to stay in business, the AP reported.
• Home care workers in Wayne County in West Virginia have approved a new contract and returned to work at the Wayne County Community Services Organization after a three-month strike, reported the Associated Press. Service Employees International Union Local 1199 organizer Larry Perry said striking workers approved a three-year contract by a vote of 33-17 last week, ending the strike that started on Dec. 31. The new agreement includes pay increases of 20 cents an hour, reported the AP. The employer also backed away from some earlier benefits proposals that drew objections from the employees, reported the AP.
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