Most Home Health Aides ‘Can’t Afford Not to Work’ — Even When Lacking PPE”During the pandemic, home health aides have buttressed the U.S. health care system by keeping the most vulnerable patients — seniors, the disabled, the infirm — out of hospitals.Yet even as they’ve put themselves at risk, this workforce of 2.3 million — of whom 9 in 10 are women, nearly two-thirds are minorities and almost one-third are foreign-born — has largely been overlooked.Home health providers scavenged for their own face masks and other protective equipment, blended disinfectant and fabricated sanitizing wipes amid widespread shortages. They’ve often done it all on poverty wages, without overtime pay, hazard pay, sick leave, and health insurance. And they’ve gotten sick and died — leaving little to their survivors.” Read more at Kaiser Health Network: https://bit.ly/3j5NH1F