PAS RATES ADVOCACY
Help PA’s Most Vulnerable Consumers Receive Care at Home
As you know, Personal Assistance Services (PAS) and Home & Community Based Services (HCBS) cost one-half to one-third of the cost of nursing home placement, and consumers prefer to age in place in their own homes. Since the last increase to any of the PAS or HCBS rates, agencies have had to pay more for criminal background and child clearance checks, additional training, and additionally provide employer-mandated benefits. Direct care workers, consumers, and agencies need assistance in recruiting and retaining qualified and trained direct care workers to keep our most vulnerable consumers at home. The FY2019-2020 state budget did not include plans to increase to the minimum wage, but due to your advocacy it included a 2% increase effective January 2020 for homecare workers who care for seniors and those with physical disabilities
TAKE ACTION!
However, this was the only increase in six years and both clients and caretakers are personally impacted by the fact that Personal Assistance Service (PAS) and Services and Home Community Based Services (HCBS Rates have not kept up with normal cost increases as well as the challenges caused by the COVID19 pandemic. In addition, there are new calls to increase the minimum wage for this years’ budget.
Thus, please contact your local legislators and the Administration to ask them to do more to get an adequate rate increase to not only cover current critical costs, but match any proposed minimum wage increase. Your voice is critical.
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Background Information/For Your Reference
