Health
SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Tuesday led a multistate lawsuit opposing the Trump Administration’s final rule that undermines more than half a million workers in California’s In-Home Supportive Services, or IHSS, Medicaid program, and several hundred thousand more workers nationwide.
In California, these workers have the right to collectively bargain for better wages, benefits, and training, which results in a more stable, quality IHSS program for beneficiaries.
The new federal rule creates barriers for states to deduct employee benefits and union dues from workers’ paychecks.
By doing so, it makes it harder for workers to stand up together for their workplace rights and to provide quality home and community-based care to those in need.
It puts at risk the more than 594,000 seniors and people with disabilities who receive assistance from the IHSS program.
“With this rule, the Trump Administration is not only harming Medicaid skilled homecare workers who have joined unions, but the millions of seniors and people with disabilities who depend on these indispensable workers,” said Attorney General Becerra. “This rule jeopardizes the health of vulnerable Californians who are currently able to live at home thanks to Medi-Cal’s IHSS program. The California Department of Justice will continue to fight to protect our workers and the families they serve.”
On July 10, 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a proposed rule to reinterpret Medicaid state payment requirements.
The rule was primarily based on a supposed need to “eliminate a state’s ability to divert Medicaid payments away from providers.”
Yet, the federal government provided no evidence to suggest that Medicaid payments were being inappropriately diverted.
Under California law, Medicaid in-home workers who are hired by seniors and individuals with disabilities to provide personal care services, such as bathing, feeding, dressing, and transportation, are authorized to collectively bargain.
The federal rule interferes with States’ ability to deduct payments for worker benefits obtained through collective bargaining, like healthcare coverage or voluntary union dues, from homecare workers’ paychecks. This rule would disrupt well-established collective bargaining relationships authorized for decades by state labor laws.
On Aug. 13, 2018, Attorney General Becerra sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar opposing the proposed rule.
Despite opposition from states charged with administering the Medicaid program and no hard data to support the need for such a rule, the Trump Administration acted to finalize this rule on May 6, 2019.
While the States could, in theory, avoid disruption to their state labor arrangements by foregoing federal Medicaid funding for personal care services, doing so would forfeit more than $6.5 billion in federal dollars, causing devastating harm to state healthcare budgets and eroding the states’ capacity to provide needed home care for seniors and persons with disabilities.
Joining Attorney General Becerra in filing the lawsuit are the Attorneys General of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington.
A copy of the complaint is available here.
In California, these workers have the right to collectively bargain for better wages, benefits, and training, which results in a more stable, quality IHSS program for beneficiaries.
The new federal rule creates barriers for states to deduct employee benefits and union dues from workers’ paychecks.
By doing so, it makes it harder for workers to stand up together for their workplace rights and to provide quality home and community-based care to those in need.
It puts at risk the more than 594,000 seniors and people with disabilities who receive assistance from the IHSS program.
“With this rule, the Trump Administration is not only harming Medicaid skilled homecare workers who have joined unions, but the millions of seniors and people with disabilities who depend on these indispensable workers,” said Attorney General Becerra. “This rule jeopardizes the health of vulnerable Californians who are currently able to live at home thanks to Medi-Cal’s IHSS program. The California Department of Justice will continue to fight to protect our workers and the families they serve.”
On July 10, 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a proposed rule to reinterpret Medicaid state payment requirements.
The rule was primarily based on a supposed need to “eliminate a state’s ability to divert Medicaid payments away from providers.”
Yet, the federal government provided no evidence to suggest that Medicaid payments were being inappropriately diverted.
Under California law, Medicaid in-home workers who are hired by seniors and individuals with disabilities to provide personal care services, such as bathing, feeding, dressing, and transportation, are authorized to collectively bargain.
The federal rule interferes with States’ ability to deduct payments for worker benefits obtained through collective bargaining, like healthcare coverage or voluntary union dues, from homecare workers’ paychecks. This rule would disrupt well-established collective bargaining relationships authorized for decades by state labor laws.
On Aug. 13, 2018, Attorney General Becerra sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar opposing the proposed rule.
Despite opposition from states charged with administering the Medicaid program and no hard data to support the need for such a rule, the Trump Administration acted to finalize this rule on May 6, 2019.
While the States could, in theory, avoid disruption to their state labor arrangements by foregoing federal Medicaid funding for personal care services, doing so would forfeit more than $6.5 billion in federal dollars, causing devastating harm to state healthcare budgets and eroding the states’ capacity to provide needed home care for seniors and persons with disabilities.
Joining Attorney General Becerra in filing the lawsuit are the Attorneys General of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington.
A copy of the complaint is available here.
- Details
- Written by: California Attorney General's Office
SACRAMENTO – The California State Senate has passed important legislation authored by Senator Connie M. Leyva (D-Chino) that will protect patient safety and reinforce nurse staffing ratio requirements.
In order to enhance hospital patient safety, Senate Bill 227 empowers the California Department of Public Health, or CDPH, to enforce the nurse staffing ratios by fining hospitals that repeatedly create unsafe conditions for patient care.
The proposal would require CDPH to conduct unannounced visits to hospitals to inspect for compliance with nurse staffing requirements.
In 1999, Gov. Gray Davis signed into law Assembly Bill 394, the nation’s first law mandating nurse-to-patient ratios in California.
Regulations implementing AB 394 went into effect in 2004, which set the minimum ratio of nurses to patient by unit, including one-to-one in operating rooms and one-to-five in general medical-surgical units.
These ratios, enforced by CDPH, are outlined in Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations. Though these ratios are mandated by law, hospitals repeatedly violate staffing requirements. From 2008 to 2017, there were 634 out-of-ratio deficiencies reported to CDPH.
“SB 227 will ensure that hospitals that continually choose to provide inadequate staffing levels for patient care are held accountable,” Senator Leyva said. “Patients can be seriously injured or even die when hospitals violate the nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. I appreciate the Senate’s approval of SB 227 that prioritizes the safety of patients by making sure hospitals comply with existing state law.”
Following approval by the Senate, SB 227 now advances to the Assembly for consideration.
The measure is co-sponsored by SEIU California, SEIU Local 121RN and United Nurses Associations of California / Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC / UHCP) and supported by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, California Labor Federation, California Nurses Association / National Nurses United, California Professional Firefighters, California School Employees Association, California School Nurses Organization, California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, Congress of California Seniors, Consumer Attorneys of California, Engineers and Scientists of California / Local 20, International Longshore and Warehouse Union / Local 13 and San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
In order to enhance hospital patient safety, Senate Bill 227 empowers the California Department of Public Health, or CDPH, to enforce the nurse staffing ratios by fining hospitals that repeatedly create unsafe conditions for patient care.
The proposal would require CDPH to conduct unannounced visits to hospitals to inspect for compliance with nurse staffing requirements.
In 1999, Gov. Gray Davis signed into law Assembly Bill 394, the nation’s first law mandating nurse-to-patient ratios in California.
Regulations implementing AB 394 went into effect in 2004, which set the minimum ratio of nurses to patient by unit, including one-to-one in operating rooms and one-to-five in general medical-surgical units.
These ratios, enforced by CDPH, are outlined in Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations. Though these ratios are mandated by law, hospitals repeatedly violate staffing requirements. From 2008 to 2017, there were 634 out-of-ratio deficiencies reported to CDPH.
“SB 227 will ensure that hospitals that continually choose to provide inadequate staffing levels for patient care are held accountable,” Senator Leyva said. “Patients can be seriously injured or even die when hospitals violate the nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. I appreciate the Senate’s approval of SB 227 that prioritizes the safety of patients by making sure hospitals comply with existing state law.”
Following approval by the Senate, SB 227 now advances to the Assembly for consideration.
The measure is co-sponsored by SEIU California, SEIU Local 121RN and United Nurses Associations of California / Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC / UHCP) and supported by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, California Labor Federation, California Nurses Association / National Nurses United, California Professional Firefighters, California School Employees Association, California School Nurses Organization, California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, Congress of California Seniors, Consumer Attorneys of California, Engineers and Scientists of California / Local 20, International Longshore and Warehouse Union / Local 13 and San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
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