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WASHINGTON, DC - Last month, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) introduced the Better Care Better Jobs Act, which would strengthen and expand access to Medicaid home- and community-based services (HCBS) while also supporting stronger benefits for the direct care workforce. She recently sat down with the Huffington Post to discuss her first-hand experience with this issue and the meaningful work that needs to happen so seniors and people with disabilities can get the care they need in the setting of their choice, while also ensuring care workers are receiving pay and benefits commensurate with their work.

The Huffington Post reported, “One of the most under-appreciated parts of the Democratic agenda right now is a proposal to bolster what’s known as ‘home and community-based services,’ or HCBS. That wonky-sounding term describes a variety of programs for seniors and people with disabilities who need help with daily tasks, so that they can stay out of large institutions.”

“It can mean anything from an agency that finds employment for somebody with severe mental impairment to a home care aide that allows a 90-year-old grandmother who uses a wheelchair to remain in her own apartment.”

Rep. Dingell then explained her reasoning behind introducing the bill and “why she didn’t fully grasp why the [long-term care] situation was difficult until she had to arrange care for her husband, former Democratic Rep. John Dingell…That’s when she confronted the reality about long-term care that few Americans recognize until they or somebody they know needs it: Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly and people with disabilities, pays for at most 100 days of certain services – and, even then, only under some circumstances. Most private insurance covers less.”

Learn more about the legislation and the challenges in the long-term care system by reading the full article online at the Huffington Post or on Dingell’s website.