HCAF Senior Director of Policy, Advocacy & Communications Kyle Simon and HCAF member Amy Adaniel, owner and administrator of BrightStar Care of Delray Beach, appeared on MS NOW’s Money, Power, Politics with Stephanie Ruhle today to explain how the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals could deepen Florida’s caregiver shortage and jeopardize access to care for older adults and people with disabilities.

“But ultimately what this is, it’s about patients and continuity of care,” Simon said. “When a caregiver disappears, a patient does not simply lose an employee; they lose a trusted, trained person who helps make it possible for them to live safely at home.”

Haitian nationals have long served as home health aides, certified nursing assistants, nurses, therapists, and support staff throughout Florida’s health care system. For providers already confronting persistent recruitment and retention challenges, the loss of experienced caregivers creates an immediate patient-care concern.

Florida is particularly vulnerable. According to the 2026 America’s Health Rankings Senior Report, Florida ranks last in the nation for the availability of home health care workers, with just 17 workers per 1,000 adults age 65 and older, compared with 65 workers nationally.

“Florida cannot absorb a sudden caregiver loss as it is, especially in the home health sector,” Simon said. “That shortage is very real, so this will only compound that issue.”

Adaniel, whose agency supports patients in private homes, assisted living communities, independent living communities, and memory care settings, described the workforce consequences confronting providers.

She noted the impact on South Florida’s aging population, including an estimated 4,000 nursing assistants who may no longer be available to work. Agencies cannot employ caregivers who no longer have valid work authorization, she explained.

“We’ve had to terminate people, and that’s very real,” Adaniel said. “That affects aging people trying to age safely in place at home. That’s our reality now.”

When asked whether agencies could readily replace departing workers, Adaniel was direct: “Absolutely not. Unfortunately, caregiver recruitment has been a challenge, quite honestly, since COVID. And now this only compounds our problems with hiring.”

For families, the consequences can be deeply personal. When home care services are unavailable, adult children may be forced to take on additional caregiving responsibilities while balancing their own employment and family needs.

“We’re leaving families burdened — maybe in the sandwich generation — trying to take care of their own children, work, [and] save for their own retirements,” Adaniel said. “And now they have to take care of Mom and Dad because caregivers may not be available to do that for them.”

Adaniel also underscored the irreplaceable relationships that form between caregivers and the people they serve.

“Long-term caregivers, especially for an aging population, they’re family at this point,” she said. “They come in. They become their lifeline.”

HCAF has raised these concerns with Florida’s congressional delegation, urging action to protect patients and preserve the essential caregiver workforce. Separately, the Florida Health Care Association, which represents senior care facilities statewide, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seeking protections for critical long-term caregivers.

“This is not politics, it’s access,” Adaniel said. “It’s keeping people safe at home, out of hospitals, allowing them to age in place with dignity. And who is going to be there to do that — to help these people be safe at home?”

HCAF has also gone on the record with The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Mother Jones, and state and local news outlets to raise awareness of how the TPS expiration could affect Florida’s home care workforce, patients, and families.

HCAF will continue advocating for Florida home care providers, caregivers, patients, and families affected by the loss of TPS-based work authorization.

Watch the full interview below.