 The three largest expenses for the home care industry are payroll, employee benefits and workers’ compensation. While agencies can control and plan for payroll expenses, workers’ compensation costs can fluctuate without much warning. And how has COVID impacted the insurance marketplace? HCAOA Associate Member Gavin Studner, Sales Executive, Odell Studner Insurance Brokers & Consultants, recently released a white paper addressing these issues and the current state of the insurance marketplace specifically for home care.
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 Last week, the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging hosted a virtual hearing “21st Century Caregiving: Supporting Workers, Family Caregivers, Seniors and People with Disabilities.” The hearing featured four testimonies from frontline caregivers and those who have received personal care. One of the top issues facing the home care industry is the growing demand for home care services. For example, 3.5 million people currently receive home and community-based services through the Medicaid program, and by the year 2050 the 65+ population will double.
 Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act for a third time. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the comprehensive health care reform signed into law by President Barack Obama in March 2010.  HCAOA’s state chapters continue to monitor states’ legislative and regulatory actions. Here’s a quick listing of the most recent home care happenings around the country.  The Michigan In Home Care PAC recently met with key legislators on both sides of the aisle and handed out more than $5,000 in donations to support good public policy surrounding the home care industry. Legislators came to the offices of HCAOA Michigan’s lobby team at McAlvey Merchant & Associates and learned about the industry. HCAOA members who contributed to the PAC this cycle joined the meetings via Zoom so legislators could make the connection directly to members. The effort was a success.  As a result of the Governor signing Executive Order N-08-21, rescinding certain provisions of COVID-19-related Executive Orders, the Department of Social Services has released two PINs that will be in effect until September 30, 2021. 
HCAOA's VA Advisory Committee is working to help members address issues with the VA and recently put out a call for members to voice concerns. As a follow up, we have scheduled meetings with TriWest and Optum, as well as follow up meeting with VA. HCAOA members are invited to join representatives from TriWest and Optum for webinars to cover all topics pertaining to home care agencies serving veterans.  America’s Health Rankings, the longest-running annual assessment of the nation's health on a state-by-state basis, releases three state ranking reports each year. Each report provides a comprehensive look at the health of the population across the U.S. This year’s Senior Report shows meaningful progress made on key measures of senior health in the period immediately preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, including significant improvements in care. The Senior Report is broken down by state and provides specific data such as the “number of personal care and home health aides per 1,000 adults ages 65 and older with a disability” for each state.
 HCAOA Connecticut urges members to contact their lawmakers today to urge them to support an increase in Medicaid funding for home care in the special session this week. Despite strong advocacy efforts by HCAOA Connecticut members, lawmakers approved a state budget last week that includes only a modest 1.2% increase in Medicaid funding for home care. Click here to send a message!
Home Care Pulse Survey Shows Caregiver Recruitment and Retention Program As #1 Growth Opportunity6/16/2021  Caregiver recruitment and retention is the most top of mind issue for agencies right now, so HCAOA dived into the Home Care Pulse Benchmarking Study to share useful pieces of data with members. Survey participants were asked, “What do you see as your number one growth opportunity in 2021?”  The House Health committee passed two bills unanimously last week to add more money to Medicaid to increase the pay for staff at group homes and nursing homes, as well as home health aides. read more
NEVADA: Enacts Paid Vaccination Leave and “Kin Care” Laws and Amends its Existing Paid Leave Law6/16/2021  Following the implementation of mandatory paid leave on January 1, 2020, Nevada has again expanded workers’ leave rights with the enactment of Senate Bill No. 209 (SB 209) and Assembly Bill No. 190 (AB 190). Under SB 209, private employers generally must provide employees with paid leave for the purpose of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. SB 209 also specifies some of the purposes for which paid leave may be used under the existing mandatory paid leave law. Under AB 190, employers that provide paid or unpaid sick leave must allow employees to use a portion of that leave for the care of immediate family. read more
 Do you know how many applicants it takes to make one hire? According to the CareerPlug 2021 Recruiting Metrics Report: Benchmark Data by Industry, the answer is 107 in the personal care industry. In fact, member agencies that use CareerPlug received more than 10,000 applications through the platform. Here's how you can take advantage of this great resource...
 In a recent blog post, HCAOA’s newest Associate Member, Trella Health, a leading provider of actionable insights for healthcare networks, ACOs, and the post-acute care market, shared interesting insights and Medicare Advantage data. Medicare Advantage by the numbers:  Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an emergency temporary standard to protect healthcare workers from contracting COVID-19. OSHA has provided this flowchart to determine if your workplace is covered by the new emergency temporary standard. The standard does not specifically mention personal care, but it notes that it does not apply to the following situation: |
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© 2025 Home Care Association of America. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Refund Policy