Obama discloses benefits plan for home healthcare workers in US

President Barack Obama has announced a plan to extend minimum wage and overtime coverage to nearly two million home healthcare providers in the US as the government sees a rise in the number of elderly people in the coming years.   According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the proposal—disclosed by Obama on Thursday in the company of some home healthcare aides—would provide these workers protections stated under the Fair Labor Standards Act. A separate report from the Wall Street Journal said the plan, proposed by the US Labor Department, is part of Obama's "We Can't Wait" campaign, "a series of initiatives aimed at boosting economic growth without needing congressional approval." The proposal will require minimum wages for workers offering a variety of health-related services, such as:

• tube feeding,
• wound care, and
• physical therapy.

Obama said these workers “deserve to be paid fairly because “these men and women work their tails off,” even up to 70 hours a week. The Philippine situation According to the Global Health Council (GHC), "the Philippines is one of the world’s largest exporters of health workers, making this one of the country’s most important exports. The GHC said "eight out of 10 Filipino physicians plan to pursue careers overseas, mainly as nurses, in developed countries where nurses receive higher pay than a public physician in the Philippines. It also noted that among Filipino nursing students, "60 percent are educated professionals that have left their jobs to become nurses in other countries." "This shift in health workforce has been detrimental for the Filipino health system as 70 percent of the population die without the necessary healthcare," the GHC claimed. Crucial to quality of life US Labor Secretary Hilda Solis added that the care these workers provide “is crucial to the quality of life for many families.”   Currently classified as “companions,” home healthcare workers are exempt from the 1974 minimum wage law. Such workers are also not covered by minimum wage protection in 29 states.   Almost 40 percent of these workers “rely on public aid such as Medicard and foodstamps,” the report said.   “The vast majority of these workers are women, many of whom serve as the primary breadwinner for their families,” Solis disclosed.   The US Administration on Aging sees that there may be as many as 22.6 million disabled elderly in 2040, from about 5.1 million in 1986, the report said. - VVP, GMA News