Recently, the Home Care Association of Florida (HCAF) joined more than 200 advocacy groups in calling on U.S. Senate leaders to deliver on funding to expand and strengthen at-home care and the direct care workforce. The House of Representatives has done its part by passing a bill last year that includes a historic $150 billion investment in Medicaid home- and community-based services (HCBS); the Senate must move quickly to not miss this opportunity.

The letter to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was initiated by Justice in Aging, a national non-profit legal advocacy organization that fights senior poverty through law.

As yet another wave of COVID-19 sweeps across the country and cases rise in nursing facilities, families are facing higher costs of living that further strain their pocketbooks and make covering the costs of supporting loved ones at home even harder. At the same time, the temporary HCBS funding boost to states passed as part of the American Rescue Plan Act has stopped accruing. Without a permanent, timely investment, the direct care workforce crisis will worsen and the unmet demand for HCBS will grow. Older adults, people with disabilities, family caregivers, and the direct care workforce cannot wait any longer.