March 23, 2022
SPN and the Network give caregivers a voice as the Biden Administration reconsiders dues skimming
In 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services announced a federal rule that prevented dues skimming—the practice of states taking money from in-home caregivers’ support checks and giving it to unions. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration is working to undo this protection for providers and again allow government unions to siphon off a portion of the aid checks intended to help them support sick, elderly, and disabled loved ones.
The Biden Administration has not yet finalized replacement language to permit dues skimming. Like the previous rule, labor litigators expect this next one to also wind up in court. While this saga unfolds, labor unions have launched a massive campaign urging Congress to appropriate more funds to home care provider programs in the Build Back Better legislation.
On March 23, 2022, the Senate Select Committee on Aging held a hearing on home-based care. This hearing was part of Democrats’ larger last-minute effort to pass a scaled-down version of Build Back Better. The revised Build Back Better plan includes more money to support in-home providers who offer essential care to loved ones. The unresolved question is: Will those providers even get all the support they are being promised?
If the dues skim goes back into effect, the answer will be no. Instead, in-home providers will see a portion of those checks go to government unions, and they will have no say in the matter. As Congress considers allocating more funding to this program, it must ensure that money goes to the intended recipients—in-home providers so they may give quality care to loved-ones—and is not skimmed away by unions to be used for political activity.
In 2019, this Network rallied together to help enact the rule change at the federal level that, once and for all, would end the unfair practice of dues skimming that has siphoned an estimated $150 million annually away from in-home health providers into union coffers. Network leaders from the Center of the American Experiment, Freedom Foundation, Illinois Policy Institute, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, and organizations across the country submitted comments, shared stories of caregivers and patients hurt by the dues skim, and together achieved a victory for some of America’s most vulnerable residents.
As the potential grows for the dues skim to be reinstated, Congressional leaders have turned to SPN and the Network to hear about the people affected by dues skimming and learn their stories. In addition to putting federal leaders in touch with caregivers, SPN provided written testimony in advance of the March 23 hearing and is also encouraging Network think tanks to share state-based perspectives and stories with Congressional leaders. Doing so will provide critical information to committee members and ensure union interests don’t drown out caregivers’ concerns.
Caregivers and the patients they serve once again need the support of our Network. State groups have an opportunity to submit statements about the dues skim scheme that has siphoned over $1 billion from the program. It is important that committee staff and Senate committee members are educated about this issue, especially as they consider additional funding for the program.
A statement about the impact of dues skim can be sent to the committee: SFR@aging.senate.gov
Deadline: Wednesday, March 30, 2022
