On Tuesday, members of Missouri’s House Government Oversight and Accountability Committee voted 7-1 in favor of stopping a plan to raise home health workers’ pay based on the judgement of the people they serve.
Unions which represented workers agreed to a plan last year to allow the elderly and disabled who are served by the workers to set the pay rate between $8.50 and $10.15.
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A special joint committee rejected the rule on a bipartisan vote in May. Since then, opponents of Nixon’s action have set a plan in motion to get Missouri’s full General Assembly to reject it.
Under Missouri law, the Senate and House would have to approve a resolution objecting to the wage plan. If the governor vetoes the resolution, lawmakers could still reject the new wage range with a two-thirds vote, the Post-Dispatch reported.
Currently, the Legislature appropriates $15.56 an hour from the federally funded Medicaid program for the vendors who administer and pay the home health care workers. Under the present system, every vendor keeps 45% — $6.96 of the $15.56 — which is used to pay administrative costs related to the program.
Eric Schmitt, a Republican who is sponsoring the Senate version of the legislation, said it has nothing to do with whether the caregivers should get raises. Rather, the issue is that Nixon overstepped his executive authority in changing the rule.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are stripping rights from the patients who are served by the workers, union chairwoman Barkulis said.
Currently, caregivers earn approximately $7.75 an hour in Missouri.
Photo by Tax Credits via Flickr CC License
