More than one thousand New York City home attendants speaking at least 10 different languages, came to Albany, New York’s capital, on March 13 to let legislators know that taking away healthcare benefits from 15,000 home attendants is unacceptable. That is what could happen on May 1, if the Legislature doesn’t approve the funding necessary to continue providing these benefits.

Guadalupe Sanchez, a home attendant for seven years, said, “I have two children and they get their health care through the Child Healthcare Plus program. I don’t know what I am going to do if I have to pay more for my health benefits. I take care of really sick people and I have to keep healthy to do my job. Bus fare went up, my rent went up….I don’t know what I am going to do.”

The work of NYC home attendants offers the city’s most vulnerable citizens the dignity of living independently in their own homes. The homecare workers provide assistance to their clients in activities of daily living like bathing, feeding and dressing. In 2000, the state legislature recognized the importance of stabilizing this crucial workforce by investing in the Home Care Demonstration Project, which provided family healthcare benefits to 40,000 New York City home attendants. The Project successfully reduced worker turnover from an industry average of 40 percent to close to 10 percent.

The 1199SEIU Homecare Benefit Fund is the main provider of health benefits for the Demonstration Project, and has consistently kept increases in costs lower than the national average for healthcare inflation. However, the cost of healthcare has been inexorably rising, putting severe fiscal strain on the Fund. Meanwhile, premium increases mean less money coming into the Fund than is required to pay for benefits. There was a temporary fix to this problem last year, when savings in the program allowed for a temporary Medicaid rate increase to address this deficit.

That temporary rate increase expires on March 31, 2012, and an arbitrator issued an award directing the Benefit Fund to eliminate coverage for over 15,000 members, unless the Legislature approves additional monies. In response, the home attendants came to Albany to directly share their stories with their elected representatives, and explain how critical that funding is.

Martha Rosado, a home attendant in Brooklyn, said, “My hours have already been cut. If I have to pay more for health insurance, I am not sure what I am going to do. I have migraines and other health problems. I will have to decide whether to go to the doctor or pay the rent or buy food. This is not my first time lobbying in Albany and I have also been to see my representatives in Washington, D.C. I am wondering if the elected officials truly understand what we do and what our lives are like. I will keep telling them until they understand.