America's $103 billion home health-care system is at a tipping point. More elderly and chronically sick patients are getting care at home, but the number of home health providers can no longer keep up with demand.
We keep hearing the foreboding statistics: 10,000 baby boomers in the United States turn 65 every day; our aging population is expected to double in the next 20 years and swell to 88 million by 2050; 75 percent of Americans over 65 live with multiple chronic health conditions, ranging from diabetes to dementia.
As all of these realities coalesce, we're starting to hear warnings about the fact that while the demand for all types of home health-care workers skyrockets, the supply cannot keep pace. This presents a looming national dilemma for the workforce and entities that hire, train and try to retain them, as well as the public and private sources that pay them.
Because a growing number of large employers — Amazon, Target, McDonald's and others — and some states have raised minimum wages up to $15 per hour, or are attempting to, there is increased competition for low-paid workers, more so considering the tight labor market. Meanwhile, the federal and state governments set fixed reimbursement rates for Medicare and Medicaid recipients, effectively capping workers' wages, and there's little political will to raise rates.
By the time Elizabeth was diagnosed with end-stage COPED at age 83, the limited money her late husband left her was dwindling. Her three children agreed she'd remain in her condo, despite the high rent, and they'd tag-team as caregivers — a laudable task considering their mom was housebound, on oxygen 24/7 and increasingly frail and dependent. Plus, they all had full-time jobs.
In his 2017 book"Who Will Care for Us: Long-Term Care and the Long-Term Workforce," MIT Sloan School of Management professor Paul Osterman confirms the dire numbers portending an upcoming worker shortage. And he agrees that wages and benefits must improve.
Besides, while not on site, nurses and physicians would still supervise aides in acute-care situations. And, by the way,"that also helps family caregivers, who wouldn't have to run home to give a medication because the aide isn't allowed to," Reinhard said.
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