The caucus of African-American, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian legislators of the New York State Assembly announced this week that they have placed as the main point on their list of priorities that the proposed Law of Fair Pay for Home Care (S2026, A6329), a legislative initiative that would improve the income of home care workers, who are essential for thousands of families that require special care for their elderly members.
But the biggest concern of this group, shared by hundreds of organizations and unions , it is not that this bill will be approved in this period of sessions, which is taken for granted, but that they hope to negotiate so that it is included in the state budget proposal of 2023, which will be approved next April.
Currently, most of the workforce in this industry earn only $000,300 a year, working long hours and even weekends.
The new bill would establish the base salary for home health aides at 100% more than the local minimum wage, which would allow workers get at least $35,12 per year.
This proposed legislation would increase the average salary to $21.27 per hour, which is now as low as $12 in some parts of the state.
Legislative consensus, but…
“There is a broad consensus among state legislators for the approval of this bill and that it be included in the New York budget as a priority. We are facing an act of justice in favor of a group of workers, of which the 100% are women and the 77% people of color,” said Michaelle Solages who leads this group of Assemblymembers.
The Caucus of African-American, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislators in New York is a body of 68 members of the State Assembly representing a quarter of the residents in the entire state, including Long Island and the five counties of the Big Apple.
Even with the absolute support of this group and of the majority of both chambers, so that If this law passes in Albany before the summer, the expectation of improving the minimum wage for home health aides would immediately depend on federal funds and the following years provide They would come from state sources, not yet fully defined.
In this sense, the sponsors and spokespersons of organizations that promote this bill assure that in principle Governor Kathy Hochul did not include specific funds for this initiative of law in its executive budget proposal of the 2023.
The only financing preliminarily included for homecare workers was a one-time bonus of up to $3,, which would be paid to employees who stayed on the job for at least one year.
The state president budgeted $1, 150 million in the fiscal year 2023 for these special bonuses, which would also be available to other types of frontline health care workers.
Despite Hochul’s initial proposal, a growing group of legislators say they are negotiating and insisting that this bill not only be approved, but that it be clearly included in the investment line of the New York budget.
A spokesperson for the governor’s office assured El Diario that “it is obvious that labor justice for the most vulnerable has always been a priority for the president, barely beginning negotiations on one of the budgets that will be one of the most inclusive in history in New York“.
NY Gets Old
Assemblyman from the Bronx, Kenny Burgos, shared in a virtual assembly in which a dozen assembly members participated, that during the pandemic he was able to observe painful scenes of disabled elderly people, who suffered from the lack of help due to the growing shortage of this workforce who leave the sector because of the “pyrrhic” of their salaries.
“When they ask me what the main problems of our Hispanic communities are, I always place as a priority that there is an aging population. And if we don’t take action, they will have a very hard time getting quality care. Approving this law and including it in the budget is an act of justice”, said the legislator.
In effect, it is expected that the population of more than 65 New York years grow up a 18% in the next 20 years, it is expected that, due to low wages, the labor shortage will increase exponentially.
The group of assembly members and senators who announce that they will not hesitate to pass this measure in the coming months, argues that New York will have more than 600, 000 home care job vacancies for 2026.
“We are very excited that at any moment we are going to celebrate this achievement, which will finally be that of thousands of immigrant women. They come from the Dominican Republic, from Latin American countries and largely from our Black and Latino communities. Make no mistake, these workers are of unimaginable importance”, stressed Senator Luis Sepúlveda, representative of the Bronx.
It is an investment, not a expense
The calculations of the proponents of this bill Racheal May and the chairman of the Assembly Health Committee Richard Gottfried, is that more than an expense it is an annual investment of approximately $5, 000 million per year.
“But the return on that investment is approximately double, because many of these workers will come off public assistance and people will not go to nursing homes, which is very expensive in the budget of Medicaid”, May reasoned to local media.
The other argument is that if the salary increase attracts enough home health aides, the family members who have nest to stay home to care for their loved ones, they will be able to go back to work.
The subject of Medicaid
Much of home care in New York State is funded by the Medicaid program, which provides health insurance to people with disabilities or low incomes.
Under this scheme, money would be transferred from the state to individual Medicaid health plans and then to home care staffing agencies, which in turn pay their workers to go to people’s homes.
After New York raised the minimum wage by 2016, the state began paying more to Medicaid plans to cover higher costs.
But home care employers say Medicaid plans, which are run by private entities, haven’t always passed on those funds. And employers suffer the consequences by continuing to receive salaries that they describe as “hungry.” the elderly”, but he made the hard decision last Christmas to leave his job in these agencies.
“I took out my accounts and unfortunately working near my house in a fast food center, I earn the same , with fewer responsibilities and saving me the payment of the train. The agency I worked for always had financial problems, there were always excuses for not paying me what was fair“, shared the woman from Puebla who was in this sector for 000 years.
The defenders say that this is a problem that they have already taken into account. The bill, which has every chance of passing before the summer, would require the New York State Department of Health (NYDOH) to set a minimum amount that Medicaid plans must reimburse home health agencies for their services.
What does the legislative package consist of?
- Draft (A6329/S5374) proposed by State Senator Rachel May, orders to carry wages of home care workers 85% above each county’s minimum wage, underlining that this job is a highly skilled essential job that deserves more than the legal minimum.
- Legislation A10451 and S8361 which require private insurance companies to reimburse the cost of personal protective equipment for home care agencies.
An immigrant force:
351,000 people who belong to this sector would receive salary improvements.