Connecticut
SEIU 1199NE has learned that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved federal funding for the home care Personal Care Attendant (PCA) contract in Connecticut.
This approval marks the first time that PCAs will have access to a stipend to offset the cost of purchasing health insurance, which thousands of PCAs do not currently have as they earn more than the limit to qualify for HUSKY or Covered CT. This approval also will provide the first-ever paid time off benefits, and will allow for the disbursement of a long-awaited bonus.
“We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Governor Lamont and his team for their hard work in shepherding this contract through CMS for funding approval,” said SEIU 1199NE President Rob Baril. “This is a significant step towards lifting long-term care workers out of poverty and providing them with the economic justice they deserve.”
In total, state funds add up to approximately $22 million for these benefits, with an additional $28 million provided by the federal government. Union estimates show that over 2,000 of the 11,000 PCAs covered by our contract with the State of Connecticut could be eligible for the health insurance stipend.
The stipend lets PCAs purchase insurance in the exchange marketplace, and eligible PCAs working full-time would receive $1,950 per year towards their personal health insurance payments.
“As Dr. Martin Luther King said, ‘Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane.’ This funding is an investment in economic, racial and gender justice. The home care industry, whose workforce is majority women and people of color here in Connecticut, is rapidly growing. We will keep working with state leaders like Gov. Lamont to make sure that these caregivers and their home care consumers will be able to meet their most basic needs as human beings to live with dignity,” said Baril.
The Union is asking the state for a deadline extension for PCAs to purchase health insurance plans on the exchange to April 15, allowing workers enough time to take full advantage of these benefits.
In addition to receiving a health insurance stipend and up to five days of paid time off per year for the first time, PCAs will also receive a 6% retroactive lump sum bonus for all hours worked from April 2021 through March 2022. The bonus is scheduled to be paid by January 9, 2023.
These are meaningful steps for this often-marginalized group of workers, in some cases even lifesaving. While we are thrilled about these advancements, there is still work to be done in 2023 to ensure economic justice for PCAs in Connecticut.
SEIU District 1199NE, the New England Health Care Employees Union, represents over 25,000 caregivers in Connecticut and some 4,000 in Rhode Island. Historically known as “1199” going back to the Civil Rights Movement, we are a bold, democratic Union with a long activist tradition fighting for racial and economic justice to improve the lives of Black, Latina, APII and white working-class communities.
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Media Contact: Pedro Zayas, pzayas@seiu1199ne.org, 860-830-2478
District 1199, SEIU, New England Health Care Employees Union
