| Injured workers have been receiving home health care at increased rates as hospitals and rehabilitation cnters are releasing recuperating workers quickly under discharge protocols. Today's post is shared from the NY Times. California has become the latest state to tighten oversight of home health agencies that provide custodial care — help with bathing, dressing, toileting and other basic tasks — to older adults and people with disabilities. Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday signed the Home Care Services Consumer Protection Act of 2013, which will require agencies to conduct background checks on workers, provide five hours of training, list aides in an online registry and obtain a license certifying their compliance with basic standards. Home health agencies had opposed the bill’s training and background check requirements. The governor vetoed a similar bill last year; this year’s version dropped a requirement that aides hired from referral agencies or directly by seniors get background checks and be listed in the online registry. Mr. Brown also asked for a delay in putting the legislation in place until January 2016. Critics have long argued that the home care industry has been too lightly regulated. According to a new study in the Journal of Applied Gerontology, only 15 states require training for home care workers or on-site supervision of their activities. Altogether, 29 states mandate that agencies be licensed. The move to tighten industry... |
