Do you think you’ve seen it all? Think again!
Under Michigan law, parents who get Medicaid benefits to care for their disabled adult children at home can be forced to pay dues to the Service Employees International Union as if they were unionized home health care workers.
That’s what Patricia and Robert Haynes discovered while caring for their adult children, who have cerebral palsy.
Because the parents are caregivers and use Medicaid benefits, the state lets the union collect some of those benefits as dues.
The dues come to $30 per month, and the state automatically deducts that from the family’s benefits.
Robert Haynes, a retired policeman, was dismayed about having to pay union dues just to care for his children.
“We’re not even home health care workers,” he told Michigan’s Mackinac Center for Public Policy. “We’re just parents taking care of our kids. Our daughter is 34 and our son is 30. They have cerebral palsy. They are basically like 6-month-olds in adult bodies. They need to be fed and they wear diapers. We could sure use that $30 a month that’s being sent to the union.”
Michigan lawmakers are seeking to end this appalling requirement, as they obviously should. But it is disgusting that such legislative action should even be necessary.