Regional Digest
Regional Digest
• A funding shortage is keeping an estimated 10,000 elderly and disabled residents of Texas from receiving the home healthcare they need to stay out of nursing homes, state officials say. Hundreds of others are not receiving services they are entitled to because of worker shortages, reported the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The Texas Department of Human Services has a list of 19,260 people, including 2,795 in the Tarrant County area, who say they need the government to provide home care services. About 50% to 60% of those people likely would qualify for the services, Chris Traylor, spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, told the Star-Telegram. But of those who have qualified for state services, some must wait weeks for help because each company that administers the state programs has dozens of vacant jobs, the Star-Telegram reported.
• A top Wisconsin health official said his agency cannot force home healthcare agencies to raise workers’ wages, despite a new law allocating $23.5 million in tax funds for that purpose. Department of Health and Family Services Secretary Joe Leean said Wednesday the state has no mechanism to enforce compliance of the $3.25-per-hour increase for personal care workers intended to take effect July 1, reported the Associated Press. The state paid agencies providing home healthcare services about $12.25 per hour, including about $8.25 per hour for employee wages. In an effort to stem worker defections for better-paying jobs, the Legislature in May approved $23.5 million in tax funds to boost the hourly rate to agencies to $15.50 per hour, intending that the entire $3.25 increase would be passed on to workers. Leean has acknowledged that agencies have discretion in how they spend the extra money, and are not required to pay it out to workers, the AP reported. State Rep. Mark Meyer (D-La Crosse), a co-sponsor of the legislation, said he asked Leean’s aides how to word the new law so the additional tax funds would raise workers’ wages, but was told it could not be done. Leean said his agency would audit agencies’ payroll records and report its findings to the Legislature early next year so restrictions on the use of funds could be passed.
• The Area Agency on Aging in Allegheny County is embarking on a four-year plan to adjust its approach to elder care services, starting with a new emphasis on at-home services that help patients stay out of institutions. The consolidation of some of the county’s small senior centers and the expectation that people will help pay for their county-provided home services are among other eventual goals of the agency’s plan, which was discussed last week at a public hearing, reported the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The plan was released by a new agency administration, appointed by Allegheny County Executive Jim Roddey, following criticism of the agency that it had been unresponsive to the public and lacking support for innovative programs. Mildred Morrison, who became agency administrator in February, said before the hearing that she was trying to improve partnerships with other county departments and with private agencies involved in delivery of elderly services. She also wants to free the aging agency's own staff from bureaucratic restrictions and work volumes that have been obstacles to strategic planning and new ideas, the Post-Gazette reported.
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