Individuals with disabilities, seniors, direct care attendants, elected officials, and community advocates spoke about the future of long-term care at a rally Wednesday at Pennsylvania Tri-County Patriots for Independent Living in Washington.

The coalition spoke in support of creating a Consumer Workforce Council -- a consumer-driven board charged with protecting the rights of seniors and people with disabilities who direct their own care while ensuring that the attendants who support them can advocate for better wages and health benefits.

The council would work to promote home care options for seniors and people with disabilities by improving wages and providing health benefits for direct-care attendants.

"Disability advocates have spent decades educating policy makers and reshaping the programs intended to address our needs for the better," said Kathleen Kleinman, CEO of Tri-County Patriots, which serves people with disabilities in Greene, Washington, and Fayette counties. "But our progress has been built on shaky ground because we have not assured economic fairness to the direct care workforce we need to maintain our independence."

Steven Walls, a home care attendant working with Tri-County Patriots in Washington County, said he needed to go to the hospital for emergency surgery but he had no health insurance to cover the operation.

"The Consumer Workforce Council would make sure that home care consumers like mine have reliable support when their workers need to go to the doctor," he said.

For information about the Consumer Workforce Council, visit choosehomecare.org, or call 1-866-598-4311.