Five days into the Department of Labor’s enforcement of the new rule rendering most home health aides eligible for overtime under the FLSA, questions abound regarding how state Medicaid and Medicare-funded programs will comply with the rule within their current budgets.  One new report cautions consumers of home health care and their advocates to be aware of the rule so they can stave off “unintended harms” including, among others, the potential for “cuts in service hours [to] make it very difficult to remain in the community and avoid institutionalization, particularly if [consumers] cannot find additional workers to fill their [needed] hours.”

Seldom does wage/hour policy have such an impact on the everyday lives of thousands of vulnerable Americans.  Watch this space for continued coverage.