Old Santa Obama is making his rounds early. He wants to make sure home health care workers get overtime. They are protected by the minimum wage, but not overtime. Since many sleep at the residence, the agency, if one is involved, tries to schedule two twelve hour shifts. If Obama gets his way, that will be 3 eight hour shifts with one doing nothing but sleeping.
Of course, the alternative is to put the patient into a nursing home and have Medicare pick up the tab.
In many cases, the patient is still in their own home by preference. They and their loved ones don’t want to put them in a nursing home. They can’t take care of themselves for various reasons, but are not as needy as most nursing home patients. Their quality of life is better at home. I’m sure they live longer because they are able to be more comfortable in their own environment.
Put a pencil to home health care. At the minimum wage, it’s $63,000 a year for 24X7 home care. Without any agency taking a fee. Most people can’t hire 4-5 people to schedule home care, so they either go to an agency, or hire one person who just lives with the patient.
The implications of Obama’s proposal are huge. He believes it will require more workers to be hired because no one will want to pay the overtime. He is wrong, as usual.
It will require less workers, since families who are paying $60,000 for 24X7 home care will just throw in the towel when faced with more cost with overtime and Auntie will go to assisted living or worse to a nursing home paid for with Medicare.
Who the hell advises this man, Obama? Must still be Jon Corzine.
