Salinas, CA: Obama Moves To Raise Costs For Seniors Trying To Stay In Their Own Home, Similar to AB 889 and SB 411: Family inHome Caregiving Will Be Aggressively Lobbying Against His New Policy; View From A Private Duty Caregiver Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Gilroy, Gonzalez, Greenfield, Hollister, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, San Juan Bautista, Seaside And Soledad California President Barack Obama dropped a political bombshell on 12/15, taking up a nationwide effort which would result in some seniors having to move out of their own homes and into nursing homes, something that we at Family inHome Caregiving have been lobbying against in California for the past year. His proposal includes removing the Companionship Service Exemption for Home Care Workers unless they were hired directly by the family. In my view, this would encourage people to hire under-the-table workers. Even if the family hired workers legally, it's unlikely that they would be aware that they need to have workers compensation, general liability and theft insurance (bonding), all of which is very expensive. In this state, similar legislation emerged this year which was union driven, with union officials insisting that caregivers should be paid time and a half and double time, while having to leave the senior Client on their own while they took a break. This is just not feasible in this industry. Live in caregivers that we have hired have been happy to work for a flat rate, and that is the only way we have made the rates affordable to seniors when they require 24-hour care. As regular readers of my blog know, I lobbied vigorously in Sacramento against SB 411 (The Home Care Services Act of 2011) and AB 889 (the Domestic Worker's Bill of Rights). Both bills had positive aspects but as written, I believe, would significantly increase the cost of providing non-medical in-home private duty services like Family inHome Caregiving does. In fact, AB 889 would more than double the cost of 24-hour caregiving services that many of our Clients have, unless the shifts were broken into 3 8-hour per day pieces. This would result in having five to six caregivers covering one Client on a 24-hour schedule versus the two that we typically assign to such jobs. This would make the household more chaotic, in my opinion, and would be particularly hard on those suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia because it's likely we would have to change out caregivers while the Client was sleeping. Having one caregiver when they go to bed and another there when they wake up is likely to be very disturbing for those with Alzheimer's disease or dementia. What is particularly disturbing about the two California bills is that they were originally crafted in order to try and discourage and/or regulate private duty caregivers which are hired under the table. I am totally in favor of this. Unfortunately, they cast a much wider net and are now designed to put onerous burdens, both financial and administrative, on professional companies like mine. Unfortunately, this industry runs on a razor thin margin, and passing costs on to us will result in us having to pass costs onto the Client. It's unfair, and unnecessary in my opinion. What's frustrating is that some in the legislature didn't even understand the difference between medical services and non-medical, and yet they are voting on things which could be turned into laws hurting senior citizens. On the positive side, our company was able to testify in opposition of AB 889 July 6 before the Senate Labor Committee and we made some points that were well received. SB 411 did pass through both the Assembly Human Services Committee and the Assembly Health Committee but it did not pass through the Appropriations Committee. AB 889 also is on hold, but could be revived again in 2012 along with SB411. President Barack Obama, in my opinion, has not studied the issues enough and my best guess is that he is pushing forward with these efforts due to union campaign contributions. I don't believe this will be good for the Clients (which will see prices go up) or the employees, (which will see their hours reduced). On the positive side, in California an alternative bill was introduced by Senator Yamada (AB 899) which is a much better alternative than AB 889 and was crafted with input from companies like mine. It too did not pass in 2011 but could be revived in 2012. I will be lobbying hard for AB 899 and against AB 889 and SB 411 in 2012 if they are brought up again by state legislators. I will also argue vigorously against Obama's efforts to end the companionship services exemption for home care workers. Myself and others will be asking Congress to block any attempt by the Department of Labor to modify the existing and long standing definition and application of the exemption. The changes proposed by the Obama administration will be subject to 60 days of comment, and I urge you to contact your Congressperson with appropriate comments.http://www.familyinhomecaregiving.com/blog/index.html?entry=monterey-ca-family-inhome-caregivingAbout Richard Kuehn & Family inHome Caregiving of Monterey:After more than a decade of caregiving, both in a professional environment and for a 97 year old family member I was dissatisfied with service from local caregiving agencies. I became convinced of the need for a service which provides very personal assistance to elderly and founded Family inHome Caregiving serving the Monterey Peninsula. Please visit my blog where I talk about important senior issues at:http://www.familyinhomecaregiving.com/Blog