Dave Bliler is a home care worker for his 27-year old daughter with epilepsy. He says he’s struggling to make ends meet and makes less than what a McDonald’s worker makes per hour as a full-time caregiver.
“What a raise means for me is not having to worry about my truck falling apart, running out of gas, [and] constantly having the utilities my home shut down because we can't keep up with the food. We can't keep up with utilities. We're living paycheck to paycheck,” Bliler said outside of the Lackawanna County Courthouse in Scranton.
Bliler and healthcare activists from SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania and United Home Care Workers of Pennsylvania spoke out against the State Senate’s proposed budget on Friday, which passed by a 27-22 vote earlier this month and is making its way through the state House.
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed budget would invest $21 million in participant-directed care, which are home care workers who are directly employed by their patients through Community HealthChoices, a Medicaid-funded state program. His budget is nearly two months overdue.
The investment would increase direct care worker wages to a minimum of $15 an hour, add paid time off and expand access to more affordable insurance options to about 8,500 workers.
Friday’s speakers criticized state Sens. Rosemary Brown (R-Lackawanna County) and Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne County) for voting in favor of the Senate’s reduced budget. The Senate’s version cuts Shapiro’s proposed budget by roughly $4 billion.
Brown responds to criticism
Brown gave the following statement over email in response to the criticism:
“The state budget continues to be a work in progress,” Brown said via email. “Due to the large spend number the House and Governor have presented, the Senate has brought attention to being fiscally responsible … Passing a budget for almost $51 billion is not fiscally stable for our residents short or long-term and could lead to increased costs for them. The Senate passed last year’s budget that would get funds immediately to all agencies, schools …This could and should be adopted immediately by the House so we can continue to have further discussions on policies and finances without interrupting programs.”
Baker’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Home care in Pennsylvania by the numbers
Mark Shaffer, eastern regional organizer for Pennsylvanians Together and the Pennsylvania Policy Center, said Shapiro’s proposed $21 million investment in home care is 1/20th of 1% of the state’s total budget.
“It's a rounding error in Harrisburg, but for home care workers and the families who depend on them, it would be life-changing … and because participant-directed care sends every dollar directly to the caregiver and the person receiving care, no middleman, no insurance company, takes a cut out of this money. This is one of the most efficient and effective uses of public dollars you will find anywhere in our budget,” Shaffer said in Scranton.
SEIU reports that some home health workers make as little as $12.72 an hour.
Krysten Xanthis, a home care worker who started working as a caregiver at 13 to support her grandmother, said she can barely afford to live on her wages from working two home care jobs. She said she makes less than $13 an hour from each and takes the bus to get to work. The trip “eats up” her wages.
“So, after that, what do you [do?] You can’t keep taking more money out to put into that, because you have to put it into the grocery store or to the utilities,” she said.
Xanthis said she hopes her representatives in Harrisburg start to think about reality and what their healthcare needs might be down the line.
“You don't know what's gonna happen to you … [If you don’t] help the people that are trying to help [you] … there's going to be nobody [to help when you need it],” Xanthis said.
SEIU: Pennsylvania’s aging population needs home care options
Aaron Troisi, SEIU’s political director, said the investment would help home care workers who face the lowest wages and put funding directly into workers’ hands, instead of companies he says are run by private equity corporations.
“Home care workers take care of the most vulnerable people in our communities. Often they are children. They are seniors. There are people with disabilities who want and need to stay in their homes — living, participating in their communities and aging with dignity,” Troisi said.
Troisi said now is the time to invest in home care for Pennsylvania’s aging population. He referenced a study from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, which found that by 2030, the state will have more seniors over 65 than youth under 20 years old.
“[Home care] is not only the most cost effective model of care, but also the one seniors and people with disabilities prefer, because it allows them to choose the person they truly trust most,” he said.
State Rep. Kyle Donahue (D-Lackawanna County) and representatives from NEPA Stands Up and Action Together NEPA also spoke at Friday’s event.
