The home care industry is facing a crisis. Some are calling this point in history a ‘tipping point’ for in home care services. That’s because with the federal government continuing to cut Medicaid reimbursements for home care services and an increase in demand driven by the Baby Boomer generation now retiring, it’s a perfect storm that will roll in before long.

Wisconsin is witnessing the same type of trend that’s occurring all across the country: as baby boomer’s retire, they’re going to be taxing the health and home care industries. That means unless there are more workers to fill the need, some men and women could find themselves struggling to cope with their health changes and physical difficulties on their own.

It’s becoming a regular mantra in recent years, and occurs at least somewhere across the country every year: evacuations. Authorities evacuate residents due to wildfires, torrential rains, hurricanes, and more. With Hurricanes Harvey and Irma now (finally and mercifully) gone, there’s more than just physical destruction that needs to be accounted for; there’s also the death toll.

Some home health care workers in Illinois filed suit recently against Governor Rauner’s administration. The suit alleges that Governor Rauner’s administration has failed to honor a wage increase for these workers that should have gone into effect August 5th.

Young illegal immigrant children (and some adults, up to the age of 31), often referred to in the media as ‘Dreamers’ had received protection from President Obama through an executive order he enacted called DACA. This order is set to expire next March and President Trump has announced he will not renew it.

In recent election years, the topics many of the candidates focused on involved the economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and even corruption. This year, other topics are pressing and one of them has to do with elder care.

There’s no shortage of opportunities in the workforce today. However, many people complain about low wages and how they can’t survive on minimum wage. That may certainly be true in some major cities with the cost of living having skyrocketed out of control, but in many industries, the opportunity for growth exists, but what about in home care?

The state of Connecticut continues to deal with a budget stalemate that, even though it’s been warned could have devastating consequences for the men and women who rely on in home care support services, isn’t showing signs of ending any time soon. That means, despite these repeated warnings, the elderly and disabled who rely on visiting nurses and home care aides will likely begin noticing a change in their services.

Years after the ‘Great Recession’ of 2008, jobs are returning. In fact, according to estimates, unemployment is around 4 percent in Maryland, although the government-based unemployment numbers don’t take into account several factors, including those who gave up looking for work or who had to take part-time employment when they had been working full-time in the past. Still, the economy has improved, but in Maryland, the numbers don’t tell the entire story.