Home Care Workers - NYTimes.com Re "Home-Care Workers Aren't Just "Companions,"" by Eileen Boris and Jennifer Klein (Op-Ed, July 2): At-home caregivers provide a valuable service to the elderly and people with disabilities by giving them the option of leading a more independent life. A proposed rule under consideration by the Obama administration would take that opportunity away. The change will hurt the care Americans receive from these trained professionals by driving up costs and possibly forcing families to put loved ones in institutionalized care, which is more expensive and often paid through Medicaid, already straining state budgets. That's why the National Disability Leadership Alliance, a coalition of 14 disability organizations, expressed concern with the change. Those receiving care will not be the only ones adversely affected. Caregivers could see reduced hours to avoid overtime costs. Furthermore, state laws already govern wage issues for at-home caregivers. These concerns prompted me and more than a dozen of my colleagues to introduce legislation preserving the 1975 law threatened by the proposed change. This legislation is not about keeping skilled professionals "in the shadows of the low-wage economy," as the Op-Ed writers stated. It's about preserving the time-tested, high-level care millions of Americans depend on every day. MIKE JOHANNS U.S. Senator from Nebraska Washington, July 2, 2012