Feds warn Ohio to cover home-care workers’ pay

Federal Labor Secretary Thomas Perez sent Ohio Gov. John Kasich and other governors a letter yesterday warning them to make sure their upcoming budgets comply with a federal rule requiring minimum-wage and overtime pay for most home-care workers (Source: “Be ready to cover pay for home-care workers, states told,” Columbus Dispatch, March 21, 2015) .

A federal judge invalidated much of the rule this year, but the federal government filed an appeal. A federal court decision is expected in a few months.

Kasich’s budget proposal to phase out thousands of independent home-care providers was largely motivated by the state’s potential liability for independent home-care workers’ pay and benefits under the new rule. The proposal would phase out as many as 13,000 independent home-care providers — workers who are not employed by an agency and are authorized to bill Medicaid for the care they provide to their clients who are elderly, ill and/or disabled.