Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, has introduced three new pieces of legislation targeting home care quality and support for care providers.
 
One of the proposals would fund projects that provide advancement opportunities for existing members of the home care workforce. That could include increased education and training to facilitate career advancement, according to a release from King. The legislation also provides an add-on payment through Medicare for those who complete the extra training.
 
The other two measures King has proposed would expand Medicaid’s Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP) to include training programs for home care workers and legislation that would provide funding for local governments and non-governmental agencies to expand existing training models that bring new home care workers into the industry.
 
“If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s this: America’s healthcare workers are heroes, and they need all the support we can provide,” King said in a statement. “Unfortunately, home healthcare providers face serious challenges in their jobs, including low wages, unclear training regulations, limited opportunities to advancement — which is why the industry has such a problem holding onto solid professionals.”