On October 1, thousands of home care workers under state Medicaid are due to receive a $2-an-hour raise. They will then earn $17 an hour downstate and $15.20 an hour elsewhere.

But will the home care agencies they work for receive enough to manage the increase? That’s not quite clear. The state will release the funding to private insurance firms, but allows them to decide how much money to keep, and how much to send to home care agencies. Some agencies could be so badly squeezed they might close their doors.

Even with the pay bump, admit it: this ain’t much. Especially for a job so critical and demanding, and in the face of a home care worker shortage so severe, it is a true crisis.

A budget measure called the Fair Pay for Home Care Act was passed with bipartisan support in both the State Senate and Assembly earlier this year. But Governor Hochul and her budget people killed it in favor of granting small pay raises.

Fair Pay would have meant a 150% increase over regional minimum wages, so up to $22.50 an hour: enough to provide a living wage, help retain and attract workers, and with a strict enforcement mechanism.

Fair Pay for Home Care will be back this coming year, and it must pass. People with disabilities and seniors desperately want to stay in their own homes and stay out of nursing homes. Fair Pay will help make that possible.

So many of us have stories to tell. Your voice matters. Call or email your state legislators and the Governor. Let them know how much Fair Pay for Home Care would mean for you or a loved one. Learn more about this fight at the New York Caring Majority site.

Michael Solow

Kingston