Home health care aides provide services that help Hoosiers stay out of nursing homes, and are often funded by Medicaid. (Getty Images)
As our state lawmakers navigate another budget season, Medicaid funding faces both state and national cuts. I’ve worked as a home health aide for the last seven years, and home care services made possible through Medicaid funding is an issue that touches everybody. Everybody will come to rely on care services at some point in their life or loves somebody who will.
Thousands of disabled Hoosiers need home health aides; there aren’t many
I entered this line of work because I’m passionate about working with seniors and people with disabilities. I take great pride in my ability to build trust with folks who struggle to express themselves and communicate with others. Home care workers strive to make our clients feel understood and cared for, and often times we may be the only person our clients interact with for days at a time. At the end of the day, this job is about helping people.
I was relieved to see Gov. Mike Braun propose a budget that fully funds Medicaid. Our state has a troubling history of underestimating our Medicaid obligations and reacting by balancing our budget on the backs of working people. It is critical that this year, lawmakers get it right.
Unfortunately, it appears the governor is continuing the bad habit of unnecessary and expensive means-testing measures like increasing the frequency of checking people’s Medicaid eligibility from annually to quarterly.
These measures are a costly administrative burden for the state. Strategies to kick people off Medicaid don’t save us money in the long run – they just needlessly create barriers to access to a health insurance plan that improves health outcomes and increases life expectancy.
I have seen firsthand how these programs keep people in their homes and improve their longevity and quality of life. They also save the state money in the long run because nursing facilities are much more costly. Our lawmakers must not only protect Medicaid funding from potential federal cuts but also make long-term investments in our state’s home care system to make sure we have the workforce necessary to support our aging population.
Losing access to these services is devastating. You can ask any of the thousands of Hoosier families who lost a paid caregiver last year through the attendant care program as a direct result of our legislators failing to adequately fund our state’s Medicaid program. Our clients depend on us to assist with their daily routines that keep their household functioning.
Home care requires skill, compassion, and an intimate level of trust with our clients. But far too often, these skills are undervalued and underpaid. Especially in Indiana, where wages for home care workers continue to lag behind neighboring states like Michigan and Illinois. In fact, there are families all over our state that desperately need home care services, but this need is not being met because we currently don’t have the workforce necessary to care for everyone who needs it.
Speaking from personal experience, I’m currently going back to school to become a nurse, because as much as I love my job, I have obligations to my own family that I struggle to meet because of long hours and low pay that result in high levels of turnover and devastating disruptions to care services.
Protecting Medicaid is about ensuring that all Hoosiers – regardless of our income or circumstances – are taken care of and have access to the care they need. I hope the governor and our state legislators will provide necessary and needed funding. This isn’t just a line item in a budget, this is a lifeline for thousands of Hoosiers.
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