Trump's Department of Labor Is Trying to Slash Protections for Home Health Workers
hirty-two-year-old Long Island resident Kathleen Downes, creator of The Squeaky Wheelchair blog, is a licensed social worker who is involved in a host of local and national advocacy efforts.
As someone with quadriplegic cerebral palsy, she needs help getting in and out of bed, bathing, dressing, doing her hair, and preparing meals. Thankfully, she says, she receives a small amount of help through a New York State Medicaid Program called CDPAP, the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program.
“I live with my parents,” Downes told Truthout, “because, even with my diagnosis, the state only authorizes care for 35 hours a week. It’s shameful since I need 24-hour assistance. Right now, my 62-year-old mother is the only person on my payroll. She makes $19.80 an hour and has to rely on my father’s employer health plan because the job does not provide benefits.”
But as inadequate as this is, Downes says the situation may soon get worse: A rule promulgated by the Department of Labor (DOL) in May could decimate the home care industry by removing minimum wage and overtime protections that in-home health care workers like her mom have been entitled to since 2015.
“The DOL rule change reflects a viewpoint that undervalues home health workers and the work they do, but it also reflects an undervaluing of people, like me, who are cared for,” Downes says. “Those lawmakers who support the rules change don’t see our lives as worthwhile, and they seem hellbent on moving us backwards.”
https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-dept-of-labor-is-trying-to-slash-protections-for-home-health-workers/
Because disabled Americans don't matter, even if they can work and contribute to society.
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