Cost and quality concerns linger over baby-boomer long term care

Jun 20 2014

Elsewhere, a California home care company weighs how new labor laws will affect their bottom line and industry.

NPR: How Your State Rates In Terms Of Long-Term Care
In just 12 years, the oldest members of the huge baby-boom generation will turn 80. Many will need some kind of long-term care. A new study from AARP says that care could vary dramatically in cost and quality depending on where they live. The study was motivated by a simple fact: The number of available family caregivers is declining. In 2010, there were potentially seven for each person 80 years old or older. By the time baby boomers reach that age, there will be only four potential caregivers for each of them. And those numbers are expected to continue declining. Chalk it up to longer lives and smaller families (Jaffe, 6/19).

The New York Times: Select Home Care Weighs New Wage And Labor Regulations
Select is confronting an array of regulatory changes. A federal rule will extend the minimum wage and overtime protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act to nonmedical caregivers when it takes effect in January. The company's home state, California, has already enacted legislation that added a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights to the California Labor Code. Under the new guidelines, which went into effect Jan. 1, nonmedical home care employees are entitled to overtime pay for any more than 45 hours of work a week. In addition, California's minimum wage will rise to $9 an hour on July 1. For home care companies like Select, these changes mean shorter shifts, more employees and higher wages (Chhabra, 6/18).