Every year, Hearts for Home Care advocates work diligently to show their legislators how important home care is to them:

• • Why continued access for vulnerable and medically-fragile individuals in their communities should be a top priority to them.

• • Why professional in-home caregivers must be paid a fair wage for the incredible and life-saving work they do.

• • Why steady, sustainable funding formulas for home care will mean fewer hospitalizations, ER visits, and institutionalizations—and cost-savings for states.

These issues may be top priority for us – but for legislators who represent many different districts, populations, and have many competing priorities – home care may not be top-of-mind. That’s why our advocacy work is so important: We must continue to cultivate relationships with lawmakers, educate the public about home care, and build support for caregivers and clients that deliver and rely on this care.

States that prioritized home care this year:

• • DE: Recently, DE Governor John Carney signed Delaware’s 2025 budget into law. Hearts for Home Care thanks the governor, state legislature, and particularly members of the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) for including a $2.9 million investment in MLTSS personal care services. Delaware is one of the country’s most rapidly aging states, and this meaningful investment translates to better access to professional caregiving services for the many adults with disabilities and seniors in the state that prefer to live at home – both now and in the future.

• • NJ: The New Jersey legislature has again proven its commitment to the many Garden State residents that rely on home care services. This year, NJ included a $40 million increase in its personal care assistance (PCA). Unfortunately, the private duty nursing (PDN) program was not included in the investments despite strong advocacy efforts across the industry. Here is our statement on the disappointing decision to not include additional funding to this vital program. 

• • SC: The South Carolina legislature recently increased funding for its skilled nursing program by $4.8 million!  This represents a monumental win in SC, where advocates committed to educating lawmakers on the difficulties that medically complex children and adults have been facing in accessing the in-home nursing services they need. Our H4HC advocates thank the state legislature and Governor McMaster in this Tega Cay Sun op-ed and for recognizing the benefits of home care for vulnerable residents and their families. 

• • FL: The Florida legislature make a historic investment in the private duty nursing (PDN) program this year after years of a united group of advocates educating lawmakers and sharing their stories. We appreciate the legislature for including a $29 million funding increase to in-home nursing! 

• • RI: The Rhode Island legislature sure knows how important incremental funding increases are to the success of home care programs as they continuously prioritize additional investments! RI increased funding to the in-home nursing program by 42% and 58% to their home health aide program for a collective 100% increased investment for home care! What a huge win for advocates, families, and their caregivers!

• • MO: Legislators in Missouri approved a 10.5% increase to private duty nursing home care services. This means that home care providers in the state will be better able to recruit and retain more skilled nurses into home care, and that children and adults living with medical complexities in MO will be better able to access the skilled nursing services they need to stay safe and healthy at home.

• • VT: The Vermont legislature increased their home health aide program by 3% to ensure vulnerable adults and seniors have the in-home care they need to remain independent and safe at home.

• • MA: The Massachusetts legislature made a $38.8 million investment to the in-home nursing program, increasing funding for both registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who care for the most medically fragile residents in their homes.