Title
Urging Governor Rendell to create the Pennsylvania Consumer Workforce Council.
Body
WHEREAS, In the June 10th Philadelphia Weekly cover story entitled "Not Home Alone," Pennsylvania ranks as the country's third oldest state and, in 2008, 15% of the population was 65 or older. According to PA Secretary of Labor and Industry Sandi Vito, Pennsylvania will require 30,000 new home care workers by 2016 and by 2025 the number of disabled elderly in Pennsylvania is projected to increase between 27% to 41%.
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania spends $2.9 billion per on nursing home care and only $750 million in home and community health care for seniors and people with disabilities and health care costs in nursing homes is three times more expensive than home health care. In Philadelphia, 12,000 seniors receive taxpayer support for long term health care and only 40% receive home health care as opposed to nursing homes, yet 92% would prefer home health care; and
WHEREAS, Long term health care cannot be shifted from nursing homes to people's homes without addressing the problems of home health care workers and caregivers. These caregivers receive no health insurance, sick days, or vacation and turnover is over 50% and only 40% of current home health workers have a year or more experience; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania spends an estimated $22 million per year on turnover in the homecare workforce and caregiver turnover undermines the quality of services for consumers of home health care and when home health care workers leave their jobs, consumers are forced to start all over again with someone new, or worse, they are simply left without care; and
WHEREAS, In comparison to California, Oregon, Washington, and Massachusetts, a Pennsylvania Consumer Workforce Council would address the problems of home health care and save taxpayer dollars by shifting long term health care from nursing homes to people's homes by allowing people to take full a...
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