Senate Fails to Act on Direct Care Workforce Amendment; Set to Pass Bill Before Christmas

David Ward

This past Saturday we learned that senate lawmakers failed to include the direct care workforce amendment (PDF) championed by Senators Robert Casey, Herb Kohl, and Russ Feingold in Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) manager’s amendment (PDF) to the Senate version of the health care reform bill. The Senate is expected to vote on the health care reform bill at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning, Christmas Eve Day. The bill is widely expected to be approved by the chamber.

We are pleased that Senate bill includes a number of key benefits for direct care workers and their families, including expanded choice and access to affordable health insurance coverage, increased training and education opportunities, and Community Living and Supportive Services (CLASS) Plan provisions.

However, we are disappointed at the Senate’s failure to include the Casey-Kohl-Feingold amendment to ensure that the direct care workforce is a “high priority” focus area of the National Healthcare Workforce Commission that would be established under the senate health care reform bill. The goal of the commission is to gather and review information on the nation’s health care workforce, providing comprehensive recommendations to Congress and the Administration on ways to strengthen this workforce.

“We made it this far, but it is disappointing that the Senate did not include our amendment in the final bill,” says Tracy Dudzinski, the direct care worker leader from Wisconsin who led the charge for the amendment.

“We will come back next year to ensure that our amendment passes, either through other legislation or by working directly with the National Health Commission,” says DCA Direct Care Worker Specialist Brenda Nachtway. “Meanwhile, it was gratifying to see that we have many allies willing to help us educate policy makers on the importance of valuing our profession.”

As the bill continues to move through the legislative process, the DCA will continue to press lawmakers to ensure that the final bill that goes to President Obama for his signature will improve the health care system for, and address the workforce needs of, direct care workers.

We are grateful for the strong leadership and support of HELP Committee Chair Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), together with Senators Casey, Kohl, Feingold and others who have been champions for direct care workers in health reform.

We especially appreciate the direct care workers and the more than 40 organizations (PDF) that signed on to support the direct care amendment. We look forward to continuing to work with direct care worker leaders, advocates, and our congressional champions to ensure that the health care reform bill signed into law by President Obama will improve the health care system for, and address the workforce needs of, our nation’s direct care workers.

If you would like additional information or have any questions, please contact me at dward@directcarealliance.org or 212-730-0741.

Related Materials

Talking points about the amendment

Direct care worker amendment sign-on letter (PDF)

DCA statement about the exclusion of the amendment from the Senate’s health care reform bill  

David Ward
Director of Policy and Planning
Direct Care Alliance