Pennsylvania Homecare Association: Home Care Industry Genuinely and Gravely Concerned

Full text of the PHA Press Release

For Immediate Release

Lemoyne, PA (February 5, 2025) – The Pennsylvania Homecare Association (PHA) is deeply disappointed that Governor Josh Shapiro’s proposed budget provides a funding increase for only 6% of home care workers – those in the participant-directed service model where participants self-manage workers to provide their care.

However, this proposal disregards more than 270,000 direct care workers who deliver the same services, called Personal Assistance Services, through the “agency model” where a provider organization recruits and manages the workforce on behalf of the care recipient. This also completely disregards thousands of nurses who provide shift nursing services to adults and children with medically complex needs.

“PHA members across the state are genuinely and gravely concerned. An increase that completely ignores 94% of the workforce fails to acknowledge the crisis our members experience every day,” said Mia Haney, CEO of Pennsylvania Homecare Association.

“We believe that all workers deserve to be recognized equitably for the critical care they deliver,” said Haney. “The governor’s proposed budget does not begin to address the workforce crisis, ultimately making care delivery both unsustainable and unsafe. We appreciate that the governor commissioned a rate study last year to assess the true market needs for home care. The study is completed, but results have yet to be released. Those results will confirm what we already know: the current rates are completely inadequate.”

Addressing this workforce crisis is critical for the 400,000 seniors, children and adults with disabilities who will have less choice, less access to care, and significantly more risk of serious medical complications.

Each month, 112,500 home care shifts go unfilled due to unacceptably low reimbursement rates, making it even harder to maintain a stable workforce. Nearly 30% of pediatric home nursing visits are missed, as home-based nurses and direct care workers are driven out of the industry in search of better pay.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania is underfunding personal assistance services by an average of 40% compared to all neighboring states. For example, West Virginia reimburses at $25.44 per hour, while Pennsylvania lags behind at just $20.63. Nursing reimbursement rates tell a similar story. Yet, instead of closing this gap, this proposal further delays the inevitable investment that Pennsylvania needs to make for its aging, disabled, and medically fragile populations.

PHA and stakeholders will work with Democrats and Republicans alike to remedy this glaring and alarming omission from the budget.

Contact: Cody Jones, [email protected].

About the Pennsylvania Homecare Association
The Pennsylvania Homecare Association is a statewide membership organization of more than 700 homecare, home health, and hospice providers. PHA members provide quality care and serve as advocates for their patients and clients on a variety of healthcare-related issues. PHA and its members work to improve professiona lstandards and ensure access to quality home care throughout the Commonwealth. For more information about PHA and its initiatives, visit http://www.pahomecare.org. For media inquiries, please contact [email protected].