Jan 14 2009
Life better for PCA’s and consumers as of today in MA
I learned today that Personal Care Assistants (PCA’s) will get a wage increase from $10.84 to $12.48 over the next two and a half years. They will also receive paid time off benefits starting in 2010 as well as health insurance. As a person who uses PCA’s to conduct her daily life, I am glad of these changes. I am glad that in Massachusetts PCA’s and consumers (people who use this service) are working together to increase both consumer control and PCA compensation. Too often, in the disability rights movement the two groups are seen as enemies.
I am not the enemy of my PCA and she is not the enemy of me. Both of us get royally screwed by a health care system not designed to accommodate people with long term care needs. Granted, I always want to be the one in charge of who I hire and when they work. However, paying someone a reasonable amount of money, giving them health insurance and sick time does not take away from my right to do that.
Massachusetts is likely to face a home care crisis with the aging of the baby boomers. We can barely accommodate the people we have now. Turn over rates for PCA’s are around 40-60%. Hopefully, this legislation will stem that tide.
