![]() The Equal Pay and Living Wage Act (the Act), currently before the Alaska Legislature as Alaska Senate Bill 16, seeks several significant changes to Alaska’s minimum wage, pay equity and employment discrimination law. The Act was introduced on January 22, 2021. If enacted, it would create the most comprehensive overhaul of Alaska’s anti-discrimination laws in at least 10 years. read more
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![]() The 2021 Home Care Benchmarking Survey is now open! Home Care Pulse relies on home care providers, like you, to give information and feedback on what the last year has looked like for your agency. The survey will be open during February and March, and if you complete the survey before the early bird deadline of February 28, you'll receive the largest discount possible on your pre-order of the 2021 Study—$325 off. ![]() HCAOA congratulates the more than 100 member agencies that have been recognized as Home Care Pulse Award winners, including 2021 Best of Home Care Leader in Excellence, Provider of Choice, and Employer of Choice. Click here for the full list of agencies recognized. ![]() Be Wise, Immunize was launched by the Partnership for Medicaid Home-Based Care to spread awareness and information about the COVID-19 vaccine. The campaign provides home care workers trustworthy information about the COVID-19 vaccine. It is essential that home care aides receive the vaccine to protect themselves, their families, and their clients. This website outlines facts about the vaccine and why it is safe to receive. Visit bewiseimmunize.com to learn the facts about the COVID-19 vaccine. ![]() The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) provides forgivable emergency loans to small and mid-size businesses. Many home care agencies have utilized PPP loans to stay in business during the continued pandemic. In 2020, more than $600 million dollars were dispersed to home care businesses. A new round of PPP loans (“second draw”) will offer additional funding to harder-hit businesses. VIRGINIA: Home Care Workers at Risk Without Medicaid Rate Increase, Lawmakers and Providers Say2/3/2021 ![]() Virginia’s minimum wage hike — from $7.25 an hour to $9.50 an hour — takes effect on May 1. If Medicaid rates for personal care services don’t keep pace with the higher minimum wage, it will be “financially unsustainable for home care agencies to provide services to Medicaid recipients. We are encouraging our colleagues in the General Assembly to step up and fully fund Medicaid reimbursement rates for home care workers,” Lucas and Aird said. read more ![]() House Bill 6100, filed last week on behalf of the Department of Consumer Protection, would expand background checks of prospective caregivers and ban medical terms in home care agency business names and advertising. As it did last year concerning a similar bill, HCAOA Connecticut is opposed to substituting state and national criminal background checks, which require fingerprinting by state police and the FBI, for comprehensive background checks. This would involve a costly, detailed and time-consuming process, delaying placement of caregivers with clients, putting elderly consumers at risk and harming HCAs. The bill also prohibits employment of persons convicted of one of several crimes. As an alternative, HCAOA Connecticut is proposing comprehensive background checks be conducted by a pre-employment background screening services company that include a search of an online federal database, and to allow HCAs to accurately describe nonmedical, supportive services that ensure a safe and healthy environment for a person who may have memory challenges. A public hearing on the bill before the General Law Committee will be held next week. HCAOA Connecticut is urging members to submit testimony and contact their legislators about the bill. ![]() The South Carolina Departments of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and Health and Environmental Control issued a joint order to expand the group of providers qualified to administer COVID vaccinations. The state’s General Assembly is also expected to pass a resolution to expand that group even further. The Governor has suggested ordering hospitals to cancel elective surgeries if more vaccines don’t get distributed quickly so that all hospital personnel can operate in an “all hands on deck” approach to make this the top priority for the state. Read more here. ![]() HCAOA just added a new, free resource for agencies on the COVID-19 Resources page. Click here to access a series of 24 quick videos answering questions about the COVID vaccine in easy-to-understand bites. Let your voice be heard! To guide the advocacy efforts of HCAOA’s Veterans Affairs Services Advisory Council, each member agency is asked to complete a short survey regarding veteran care.
![]() Governor Ned Lamont announced last week that the Department of Public Health will proceed through the remaining groups to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Phase 1b with a tiered approach based on risk of adverse health outcomes from the virus. The governor is directing the implementation be done in an equitable way, with vaccine distribution points focused in areas where residents and communities have barriers to access and care. The tiered approach to Phase 1b will proceed with appointments being scheduled currently for individuals over the age of 75, followed by (likely early February) individuals between the ages of 65 and 74, and then (likely late February or early March) frontline essential workers and individuals with underlying medical conditions who have an increased risk for severe illness. The roll-out of the vaccine to staff and residents of congregate living settings will be phased in throughout Phase 1b. More information about the definitions of frontline essential workers and the list of eligible underlying medical conditions will be made available in the next several weeks. “We have begun in earnest vaccinations of our 75 and older population,” Acting Public Health Commissioner Dr. Deidre Gifford said. For the most up-to-date information on COVID-19 vaccination distribution plans in Connecticut, visit ct.gov/covidvaccine. ![]() The Washington State Department of Health, with assistance from the Washington National Guard and local and private sector partners, will launch four mass vaccination sites throughout the state this week. Announced by Gov. Jay Inslee on January 18, the sites are located in Kennewick, Ridgefield, Spokane and Wenatchee. They will be open by appointment only to people who pre-registered and are eligible for the vaccine under Phase 1A or 1B-1. For more information click here. |
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