Maine parents are lobbying the state legislature to extend MaineCare coverage to parent caregivers for their children.

According to the Portland Press Herald, many parents want to be paid for taking care of their children if they have special needs such as Cerebral Palsy, because of how time consuming it is. This leads to parents not having any time for a full-time job to sustain their family, with some genetic disorders making it so children can only be left alone for a few minutes at a time.

This might change however, thanks to a bill submitted by Rep. Jessica Fay of Raymond. The bill has passed through committee and awaits votes from the House and Senate. Another bill proposed by Bangor Senator Joeseph Baldacci has the same end goal, though that bill hasn’t made as much progress.

But while it can keep families afloat financially, parents have also said that the direct care workforce shortage still needs to be addressed, so families who need home health nurses can find them and get breaks from caregiving.

Alice Burns, associate director of the Kaiser Family Foundation’s program on Medicaid and the uninsured, says that “There is a well-documented shortage of health care workers, and so if there aren’t enough workers, (paying parents to be caregivers) is a strategy more states are using to fill that void. If you don’t have a worker to care for your (special needs) child, you can’t work. It’s just not possible.”

It’s not clear how many families might qualify for the support or how much the program might cost. No fiscal impact notes have been attached to the bill. The federal government covers about 73% of MaineCare costs and the state pays for about 27%, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

To read the original Portland Press Herald article, click here.