Innovating Tomorrow's Home Care Workforce

Each day in the U.S., 8,000 people turn 65 years of age. National surveys report that when given a choice about long-term care services, most Americans prefer to remain at home rather than move to a nursing home.

Washington state leads the nation in offering home care to people eligible for nursing homes. Since Medicaid funds a significant portion of long-term care services, the in-home care choice has meant significant savings for taxpayers. It can also mean a significant quality of life improvement for those who need care.

According to a University of Washington study, 440,000 home care aides will need training to meet this growing demand. However, home care aides face many challenges:

• Little or no training. Lack of federal training requirements means that workers providing nursing-home-level care have no or little training, even though nursing homes require a 75-hour entry-level training. This also contributes to a lack of viable career pathways.
• Little or no health insurance. Nationally, most home care workers have little or no health insurance.
• Low wages. On average, home care aides in Washington state earn $13,000, working only about 105 hours/month.

We are committed to making Washington state a leader in creative solutions to these problems, improving the lives of caregivers, and adding to the health care system as a whole.

As SEIU 775 Benefits Group, we are a family of employee benefit plans negotiated and sponsored by SEIU 775, the labor union for long-term care workers in Washington State & Montana.

A Way Forward

SEIU 775 Benefits Group provides high quality training, retirement and health benefits.