Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Washington, DC -- SEIU Healthcare member Glenda Faatoafe, a home care worker in Washington State, testified today before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, urging Senator Kennedy and other committee members to pass the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act to protect seniors and people with disabilities.

“We need to invest more in home and community-based services,” said Faatoafe, a caregiver for the past eleven years. Faatoafe now cares for a 47 year-old quadriplegic man who became paralyzed two years ago after a car accident. “This legislation gives seniors and people with disabilities the choice and freedom to live at home.”

The CLASS Act would establish a national insurance program, financed by voluntary premium payments, to help offset the costs of long term care. If passed, adults who are or become disabled would receive a cash benefit to obtain services and supports in their local community, including the ability to hire family caregivers. The broad-based insurance program would offer an alternative to Medicaid, which often forces individuals to “spend down,” impoverishing themselves to qualify for assistance.

Currently there are 10 million Americans in need of long term care services and supports. That number is expected to grow to 15 million by 2020. But due to low wages and lack of benefits, the long term care workforce suffers from chronic shortages and high turnover rates, as high as 40-60 percent annually. The average wage for a personal care attendant employed by a home health agency is $8.18 per hour; long term care workers rarely find full-time work that pays 40 hours a week.

Home care workers like Ms. Faatoafe monitor health conditions and provide personal care assistance to seniors and people with disabilities, such as bathing, dressing, dispensing medication, cooking, transportation, and other activities of daily living.

“Without me, my client wouldn’t be able to live at home with his wife and six children,” Faatoafe said. “By providing care in his home, my client can be there to be a husband and a father to his kids.”

The legislation, initially introduced by Senator Kennedy, is currently under review by the HELP Committee.