President’s American Jobs Plan Proposes Needed Support for Older Adults, People with Disabilities and Caregivers

(BOSTON, MA) – Today, President Joe Biden unveiled the American Jobs Plan, a $2 trillion plan to address the nation’s infrastructure needs. Within the plan is $400 billion to improve home and community-based services and extend Medicaid’s Money Follows the Person program that allows people with disabilities to live independently and older adults to age in place, something an overwhelming majority would prefer. It also proposes better wages and benefits for direct care workers, the majority of whom are women and people of color. These provisions would be a good compliment to the enacted temporary boost in home and community-based services (HCBS) present in the American Rescue Plan Act. 

Statement of Emily Stewart, executive director of Community Catalyst, in response to President Biden’s $400 billion proposal to expand homecare and improve living conditions of homecare workers within the America Jobs Plan.  

“Creating a person-centered health system means empowering people to live and age wherever they choose which is why we’re grateful the president has proposed additional investment in Medicaid’s Money Follows the Person program. But people cannot always age in place alone and homecare workers are a vital piece of the puzzle. These workers, primarily women and people of color, work in an industry marked by significant emotional and physical labor, erratic hours, high rates of uninsurance, and low wages. Improving home care wages and benefits is a matter of racial and economic justice and builds on the administration’s Executive Order to use the federal government to advance racial equity.”  

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About Community Catalyst: Community Catalyst is a national, non-profit consumer advocacy organization founded in 1998 with the belief that affordable, quality health care should be accessible to everyone. We work in partnership with national, state and local organizations, policymakers, and philanthropic foundations to ensure consumer interests are represented wherever important decisions about health and the health system are made: in communities, courtrooms, statehouses and on Capitol Hill. For more information, visit www.communitycatalyst.org. Follow us on Twitter @CommCatHealth.