Are Pennsylvania's Home Care Agencies Making the Grade?

Home care workers from the Philadelphia area met with Rep. Kenyatta Johnson on March 15th to talk to him about why we need report cards for Pennsylvania's home care agencies.

Almost every Pennsylvania senior would rather receive their long term care at home, but when it comes to choosing a home care agency, seniors and their families have little to go on.

There are over 600 licensed home care agencies in Pennsylvania, but no way for seniors to compare them the way they can with nursing homes. They don't know which agencies provide all the services they need. They can't check to see if there have been any findings of fraud or abuse by the agency. Seniors and their families just have to pick a name out of the hat and hope.

That's where House Bill 1961 comes in. HB 1961 will create report cards for home care agencies so that seniors know where they can get the most reliable care. These report cards would require agencies to tell the State:

• How many consumers they serve
• What their record of staff turnover is at the agency
• The results of Employees' background checks and whether they have special home care related skills like Alzheimer's care or foreign languages
• If the agency has been cited for any violations of Medicare or Medicaid Guidelines, or if there have been any findings of fraud or abuse

As we move to making home care more of an option for seniors, we need to make sure that we are giving them quality care provided by a stable workforce. Home care agency report cards will let seniors and their families make informed decisions and urge agencies to improve the quality of care they provide.