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Bill to create home-care provider directory draws support from advocates and mixed reaction from agencies
Summary
House Bill 1478 would establish a searchable directory of home-care providers and direct-care workers. Disability advocates, unions and healthcare providers supported the measure as a tool to improve care matching; residential service agencies raised privacy and operational concerns and urged amendments.
Delegate Terry Hill introduced House Bill 1478 on March 19, proposing a statewide home-care provider directory to help consumers and caregivers find direct-support professionals and other home-care workers.
Terry Hill told the Health and Government Operations Committee the directory would expand on existing local tools and allow independent providers to list skills, languages and capabilities so families and disabled or older Marylanders could more easily match workers to needs. "Finding the right home care provider ... is a difficult thing to do," Hill said, and a directory would ease that search.
Supporters included the Alzheimer's Association, which said the measure would “bolster access to our home and community based services” and suggested a low-cost spreadsheet start modeled on Howard County. Lorraine Arikot of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East told the committee that the workforce is large and fragmented and a directory would help fill job openings and improve continuity of care. Disability Rights Maryland's Sandy Balin cited the U.S. Supreme Court's Olmstead v. LC decision and said a directory would preserve choice and reduce institutionalization risk.
Families and self-directed services participants testified about the difficulty of finding suitable workers. Rob Stone, a disability advocate, told the committee, "Finding a direct support professional or DSP whose skills match my needs should not be a matter of chance." Medical providers such as Matam Shookman, medical director at Johns Hopkins in-home primary care, said quality of in-home care determines whether patients can safely age in place.
Residential service agencies (RSAs) raised concerns. Dana Kaufman of the Maryland National Capital Home Care Association said RSAs are licensed by the Maryland Department of Health and objected to a requirement that agencies publish employee-level lists; she recommended an approach that lists RSAs and lets consumers contact agencies directly. Committee members asked about existing MDH provider-finder resources and state Medicaid enrollment systems used for billing and electronic visit verification; witnesses said current tools do not include independent, non-agency workers and recommended starting with a low-cost shared spreadsheet.
The committee ended the HB 1478 hearing without a vote. Sponsors and stakeholders indicated they would continue negotiating amendments to address RSA privacy and regulatory concerns while preserving a searchable resource for consumers.
