An agreement between advocates for the disability community and state officials will ensure the state’s 38,000 personal care attendants continue to have flexibility in their schedules to meet the needs of elders and people with disabilities for whom they work.
A union representing the personal care attendants, or PCAs, 199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, announced Friday that the overtime policy for the PCA program, which had raised concern that people using the services would face hardship by having to find additional or replacement PCAs, has been revised before going into effect Jan. 1.
Marylou Sudders, secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, said in a statement that her office listened to concerns and made changes that will mean a successful implementation of what is called the “PCA overtime management policy.”
“MassHealth is committed to a sustainable, robust PCA program to provide critical services for our members to maintain their community independence,” Sudders said.
The revised rules mean that overtime for a PCA is not triggered until 50 hours have been worked in a week, and allows people who depend on PCAs to file exemptions for up to 66 hours per week.
The PCA program, which will see an increase of $80 million in the state budget, serves 26,000 of the 1.9 million members enrolled in MassHealth.
Jim Kruidenier, executive director of Stavros Center for Independent Living in Amherst, said in an email Friday that those he has spoken with are relieved, and some overjoyed, that the changes were made.
“When the earlier regulations came out, I was in touch with users of the program from all over the state who were absolutely terrified that they were going to lose the folks who had become essential to their health,” Kruidenier said.
Amherst resident Daniel Greaney, the director of PCAs for Stavros, said in a phone interview he is pleased that Gov. Charlie Baker heard the concerns.
“People with disabilities and elders now are happy with the governor, and thank the governor for listening and working with us and having a reasonable solution to this,” Greaney said.
Under the rules previously announced, if a PCA exceeded 40 hours for a client, a second PCA would need to be hired, unless an exemption of up to 12 weeks was granted.
These rules were aimed at meeting the federal Fair Labor Standards Act after the U.S. Department of Labor, in 2015, required that minimum wage and overtime protections be extended to home care workers.
But Greaney, who was paralyzed in a motor vehicle crash more than 30 years ago, said this would have meant a serious threat of people losing their independence and being placed in a hospital or nursing home if unable to find more skilled workers. This would have also added costs and meant less continuity in service.
The revisions will still mean changes, but not those that would have required he and others with complex medical needs to seek out new help.
“The biggest addition is that the PCA program now is going to have a cap of 50 hours versus a 40-hour cap,” Greaney said.
And temporary or long-term exemptions, lasting up to two years, will allow some PCAs to work up to 66 hours per week for one client.
The revisions are also an improvement for workers, Greaney said, because they can begin collecting overtime at 50 hours. Tyrék D. Lee Sr., executive vice president of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, said quality care is assured under these changes.
“The previous provisions would have drastically altered the scope and effectiveness of the PCA program,” Lee said.
Previously, the PCA contract ratified in June with Gov. Baker calls for an immediate raise of 44 cents per hour and ensures these workers are paid $15 per hour by 2018.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
