Dear friends,
A friend wrote to share a little anecdote about his friend, Elliot, who deeply admired Jimmy Carter.
Carter pardoned over 200,000 Vietnam War resistors (known in the media as draft dodgers and evaders). Among them was Elliot Markson, indicted but not convicted. For Elliot, Carter, forever after, was a mensch.
In the 1990s, the same friend introduced me to Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried. It is a must-read book about the soldiers in Vietnam and it came to mind yesterday when I was on an organizing call with the Fair Pay for Home Care campaign.
We were wondering how we could help the public and the governor understand what it’s like to be a caregiver.
Later in the day, this is what I wrote, with apologies to Tim O’Brien.
The things they carry are largely determined by necessity. Among the necessities are blankets, colostomy bags, extra filters and tubing, meals on trays, and drinks with straws. They carry arm crutches, wound dressings, fresh linens, and towels. Sometimes, Lollie carries a sling for hoisting Zach with a Hoyer lift — a crane for lifting people — from his wheelchair to a shower chair.
When Tamara is not around to help her, Claudia occasionally carries a sandwich in her pocket, because she uses a cane with her right hand and cannot carry anything in her left hand.
Three years ago, nearly 6 in 10 home care workers in New York received public assistance because their pay was so low. Last year, the Fair Pay for Home Care campaign won a small wage increase for caregivers.
But less than a year later, the newly elected governor wants to turn back the clock. Her proposed 2024 budget tethers home care workers’ wages to the eventual minimum wage — when it reaches 18 dollars, hourly pay will freeze, and workers will again be earning at the very bottom, rapidly outpaced by the cost of living.
Meanwhile, the small raise that caregivers received actually cost many of them access to HEAP (Home Energy Assistance Program) and SNAP benefits.
In addition to harming care workers, this has devastating implications for folks who depend on home care. Sage Jobsis was diagnosed with MS at age 30, and her family discussed nursing home care for her as she began to lose her vision and her ability to walk.
“I put my foot down, saying, ‘I’m 35, I don’t need to be in a nursing home.’ So we had to scramble to find home care aides.”
But that process felt nearly impossible, considering the out-of-pocket expense for private home care and short-staffing at agencies. Jobsis, who is on Medicaid and Medicare, turned to the state’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program.
Contact the Governor and tell her we owe a living wage to the folks who make it possible for others to live in their homes. This action is updated!
There’s a bill in the State Senate, S328, that would remove certain restrictions on eligibility for personal and home care services under Medicaid. The restrictions were part of a change in the law during the pandemic.
The Senate has the opportunity to change this by repealing the stricter criteria. The criteria that will otherwise go into effect require that people
need ‘physical maneuvering’ with at least 3 “activities of daily living” from a very short list that excludes many necessary tasks.
Call on your state senator to co-sponsor the repeal of restrictions on home care eligibility.
No one wants to end up in a nursing home. If we want to avoid it, we have to build the infrastructure of a care economy. The Republican Party has made a study of denying basic care to people. I can’t believe that this is what the masses of people — regardless of political party — want.
Tell Congress to invest in care and care workers because care can’t wait! This quick action is from Caring Across Generations.
with love,
L