Arizona Law Seeks Greater Accountability to Consumers for Home Care Companies

The Arizona Republic recently reported on Arizona legislation affecting home care agencies that will become effective in 2015, after a similar bill was vetoed in 2014 by a previous governor. According to news reports, the new law requires agencies to disclose to consumers whether they do background checks on employees, what type of training they use for employees, the costs of services and their hiring and firing practices.  

In my experience, such a “disclosure” focus is different than setting minimum substantive standards for home care, and puts a great deal of responsibility for evaluation of  “disclosed” information on consumers, who when it comes to long-term care, may already be under stress. 

From “New Arizona Law Requires Caregivers to Be More Transparent:”

“We want to help the consumer understand better and make an educated decision,” said Mark Young, president of the Arizona In-Home Care Association (AZNHA) who helped press for passage of the bill. “A lot of times, clients get in crisis mode when they need to make these decisions because they don’t know about the industry.”

 

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix, passed unanimously in the Senate and by a 51-8 margin in the House. Gov. Doug Ducey signed the bill into law April 1.

 

Home-care service owners could be charged with a misdemeanor if their company does not comply with the new regulations, the attorney general’s office said. But the law does not apply to volunteer caregivers and home-care service organizations already licensed by the state or federal government.