​Last week, President Biden unveiled a $2 trillion American Jobs Plan, which would drive $400 billion into home and community based services. The administration said the plan would “solidify the infrastructure for the care economy by creating jobs and raising the wages and benefits for essential home care workers.” The plan would also expand access to home and community-based services under Medicaid. HCAOA Executive Director, Vicki Hoak, was among other industry leaders in her praise for the plan. “We’re very pleased to see President Biden’s support for home-based care – especially his commitment to making certain all Americans have access to affordable care and support in their own homes.

​​Submitting statistical reports, cost reports or being ready for a survey can be a challenging task for home care providers. That’s why it's so important for home care organizations to have the tools in place to be audit-ready and confidently submit accurate and up-to-date information.

Standardized credentials showing proof of vaccination, known as “vaccine passports,” are gaining momentum in some states as a means of returning to normalcy and allowing businesses to open fully to those who prove they have been inoculated against COVID-19. A Florida executive order now prohibits businesses operating in Florida from implementing such measures with respect to customers. On April 2, 2021, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Executive Order 21-81. The executive order prohibits businesses from requiring that patrons and customers show proof of vaccination to enter or receive service from a business. 

Governor Northam approved a variety of bills and amendments at the deadline for him to act on measures passed during this year’s General Assembly session. The bills will take effect on July 1. One of which included extending paid sick leave to home health care workers. The bill only applies to employers whose workers serve patients enrolled in Medicaid, which amounts to roughly 30,000 caregivers in the state. read more 

HCAOA teamed up with myCNAjobs for a free 30-minute webinar with Dr. Bob Tiballi, a top infectious disease specialist also trained in internal medicine. This session provided information, education, and a discussion of the issues specific to the home care industry as we build strategies to serve both clients and caregivers in the coming months. You can now register for a copy of the recording. Stay tuned for future sessions, including a caregiver-focused conversation. 

Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill (SB1480) that—effective immediately—amends the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) to, among other things, impose new requirements on employers that perform criminal history checks on their employees. For employers that currently have a multistate-compliant background check system in place, the new Illinois requirements do not pose significant additional compliance obligations, for two reasons.  

CareerPlug, an HCAOA Associate Member, analyzed hiring data to shed light on hiring metrics and trends for small businesses across various industries. Their team analyzed hiring activity in 2020 from more than 12,000 companies — covering more than 10 million applications. On Pages 20-21 you will see highlighted key hiring metrics and trends for businesses in the healthcare industry. One of the key findings that stood out for healthcare was that 36% of hires came from custom sources, which can include industry-specific job boards (like HCAOA’s “find a provider” site or myCNAjobs), local job boards, Craigslist, and more. On the other hand, major job boards (like Indeed and ZipRecruiter) bring in 77% of applicants, but convert them to hires at a rate of only 1%.

​HCAOA is a proud member of the Clear2Connect Coalition, which is comprised of disability advocacy and Veterans Service Organizations, and advocates on behalf of the deaf and hard of hearing communities to have access to quality, accurate communication technology. The Coalition recently worked with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to publish a blog post educating about captioned telephone service as an assistive technology option to facilitate access to communication.