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STATE LEGISLATION & POLICY
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1. Florida Bill to Promote Best Practices Among Formal Caregivers
2. Long-Term Care Financing Forums Held in Minnesota
FEDERAL LEGISLATION & POLICY
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3. President's Council on Bioethics Issues Aging Report
4. CARE Act of 2005
5. Alzheimer's Treatment and Caregiver Support Act
RESEARCH & REPORTS
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6. Medicaid Waiver Programs and Family Caregiving
7. Survey on Young Caregivers in the U.S.
8. U.S. Census Report on Disability and American Families
9. Urban Institute Report on the Value of Unpaid Activities by Older
Americans
JOURNAL ARTICLES
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10. Impact of Consumer Direction on Informal Caregivers
CONFERENCES & TRAININGS
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11. Older Women's League National Convention 2005
FUNDING, MEDIA & MISCELLANEOUS
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12. November is National Family Caregivers Month
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STATE LEGISLATION & POLICY
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1. Florida Bill to Promote Best Practices Among Formal Caregivers
The Florida State Senate and House of Representatives are considering
legislation (S.B. 88 & H.B. 49) to promote caregiving as a non-licensed
paraprofessional activity and to encourage the use of caregiving best
practices. The bills would also create the Florida Caregiver Institute, an
independent not-for-profit corporation which will develop policy
recommendations to improve the skills and availability of direct care
workers. The House version of the bill is currently in Elder and Long-Term
Care Committee review. For more information, visit:
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=31554&
2. Long-Term Care Financing Forums Held in Minnesota
Four public forums entitled "Financing Long-Term Care for Minnesota's Baby
Boomers," are currently being held, co-sponsored by the Minnesota Board on
Aging and the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Their purpose is to
analyze long-term care financing options and strategies to finance the
long-term care of baby boomers without unsustainable increases in the
Medicaid budget and state finances. For more information, visit:
http://tinyurl.com/bgn4o
FEDERAL LEGISLATION & POLICY
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3. President's Council on Bioethics Issues Aging Report
According to a new report from the President's Council on Bioethics, aging
boomers are headed for a crisis due to the "millions needing long term care
and fewer and fewer people available to provide it." The report, "Taking
Care: Ethical Caregiving in Our Aging Society," addresses the ethical
challenges of caregiving in our rapidly aging society, with special
attention to the care of people with dementia. The purpose is to provide a
rich account of the caregiving dilemmas-social, familial, and personal-and
to offer some important ethical guidelines for the care of persons who can
no longer care for themselves. For more information, visit:
http://www.bioethics.gov/reports/taking_care/index.html
4. CARE Act of 2005
The CARE Act (Caregiver Assistance and Relief Effort) of 2005 (H.R. 325),
amends the Older Americans Act to increase and extend authorization for
appropriations for the National Family Caregiver Support Program, including
caregiver support programs for Native Americans, through FY 2006. If
passed, this bill would amend the Internal Revenue Code to allow caregivers
a tax credit for long-term care needs and a tax deduction for LTC insurance
premiums. For more information, visit:
http://thomas.loc.gov
5. Alzheimer's Treatment and Caregiver Support Act
The Alzheimer's Treatment and Caregiver Support Act (H.R. 3642) would make
grants available to public and nonprofit private health care providers to
expand support services for families, caregivers and individuals with
Alzheimer's disease. For more information, visit:
http://thomas.loc.gov
RESEARCH & REPORTS
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6. Medicaid Waiver Programs and Family Caregiving
"Medicaid and Family Caregiving: Services, Supports and Strategies Among
Aged/Disabled HCBS Waiver Programs in the U.S.," was prepared by staff at
FCA's National Center on Caregiving for the CMS-sponsored Community Living
Exchange at the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy. This descriptive
study is the first to characterize and analyze the role of Medicaid HCBS
waiver programs in supporting family and informal caregivers of frail
elders and adults with disabilities. In addition, an issue brief,
"Aged/Disabled Medicaid HCBS Waiver Programs and Family Caregiving"
summarizes the results of the study. For more information, visit:
http://www.hcbs.org/files/79/3916/MedicaidandFamilyCaregiving.pdf
http://www.hcbs.org/files/79/3917/AgedDisabledMedicaidHCBSWEB.pdf
7. Survey on Young Caregivers in the U.S.
The National Alliance for Caregiving, in collaboration with the United
Hospital Fund, recently released, "Young Caregivers in the U.S. - Findings
from a National Survey." This is the first national prevalence study of the
impact of caregiving on children in the U.S. The report suggests that child
caregivers (age 8-18) who provide significant amounts of care have life
experiences different from those of their non-caregiving peers, and health
care and social service providers must be alert to the needs of vulnerable
children and families. For more information, visit:
http://www.caregiving.org/data/youngcaregivers.pdf
8. U.S. Census Report on Disability and American Families
According to a new U.S. Census report, "Disability and American Families:
2000," 20.9 million families, representing 29 percent of all families, had
a member with at least one of five disabilities. The report presents
estimates of disability prevalence in American families using measures
available from Census 2000, discusses the economic well-being of families
with members with a disability, and examines differences across demographic
groups and geographical regions. For more information, visit:
http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/censr-23.pdf
9. Urban Institute Report on the Value of Unpaid Activities by Older
Americans
Using data from the national 2002 Health and Retirement Study, the Urban
Institute, recently released "Value of Unpaid Activities by Older Americans
Tops $160 Billion Per Year." In this report, researchers assigned hourly
"wages" to various tasks and work performed by older Americans. The report
concludes that the value of unpaid activities ranged from $97.6 billion to
$201 billion in 2002, depending on three levels of cost assumptions. Using
a moderate-cost assumption, the value was estimated at about $160 billion,
with 61 percent of this value attributable to caring for family members.
For more information, visit:
http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=311227
JOURNAL ARTICLES
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10. Impact of Consumer Direction on Caregivers
The August 2005 issue of The Gerontologist includes "Easing the Burden of
Caregiving: The Impact of Consumer Direction on Primary Informal Caregivers
in Arkansas." The authors assess the effect of consumer-directed care on
the emotional, physical, and financial well-being of the primary informal
caregivers of the Medicaid beneficiaries who were enrolled in Arkansas'
Cash and Counseling demonstration. Findings suggest that permitting
interested Medicaid beneficiaries to direct their own in-home supportive
services reduces burden on informal caregivers, which may help reduce
beneficiaries' nursing home use. Abstract:
http://gerontologist.gerontologyjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/45/4/474
CONFERENCES & TRAININGS
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11. Older Women's League National Convention 2005
A four-day conference celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Older Women's
League will take place October 6-9, 2005 in Sacramento, CA. The conference
offers several caregiving workshops, including sessions focusing on the
importance of the caregiver's perspective when developing long-term care
and caregiving policy. Other workshops include discussion of family and
medical leave policies, with an emphasis on developing state-level paid
family leave policies. For more information, visit:
http://www.seniors.org/womensissues.asp?id=1973
FUNDING, MEDIA & MISCELLANEOUS
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12. November is National Family Caregivers Month
National Family Caregivers Month (NFC Month) - observed every November - is
an opportunity to draw attention to the many challenges facing family
caregivers, advocate for stronger public policy to address family
caregiving issues, and raise awareness about community programs that
support family caregivers. This November, the theme for NFC Month is
"Caring Every Day." For more information, visit:
http://www.thefamilycaregiver.org/empowerment/nfcmonth.cfm
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Caregiving PolicyDigest is a publication of the National Center on
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©2005 Family Caregiver Alliance. All rights reserved.
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