Caregiver Advocate Asks Senate Panel for Older Americans Act Funding, Paid Leave and Medicare Changes

More than 60 million Americans serve as family caregivers, fitting care for an aging parent or loved one around jobs and children, Jason Resendez told a U.S. Senate panel. Resendez, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Caregiving, testified before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging and discussed the testimony with gerontologist "Sam" Cradduck.

Resendez told lawmakers the alliance is pursuing changes "to address so many of the pain points that family caregivers face every day." His first ask centers on the Older Americans Act. The act supplies money to state Area Agencies on Aging, which deliver services to older adults including Meals on Wheels and caregiver support.

"One of the only federal line items for caregiving comes through the Older Americans Act, and it's called the National Family Caregiver Support Program," Resendez said. The program pays for respite, giving caregivers time off, and also covers training, education and outreach.

Resendez put the program's annual funding at about $200 million. "That's a drop in the bucket compared to the scale of the need for this kind of support," he said.

His second priority is a national paid family and medical leave program. "We are still one of the only industrialized nations that doesn't have a paid family and medical leave program," Resendez said. He noted 13 states and the District of Columbia have created programs in the absence of federal action, with Virginia the first southern state to do so.

A national program "can help people provide care while staying in the workforce and putting food on the table," Resendez said.

The third area involves Medicare. Resendez said the alliance is pushing for stronger access to caregiver training services and stronger in-home health benefits through Medicare. He said the three policies together "represent a stronger foundation to help family caregivers provide care sustainably, with dignity and with equity over time."

Asked which single policy would help most, Resendez pointed to Medicare. He said changes there would deliver support to families now and update a program created in 1965, adding the older adult population has changed since then. An in-home health benefit, stronger caregiver support and parity with what Medicaid does for low-income families would "transform what it looks like to age in America today," Resendez said. Extending that support across income levels "would revolutionize what it looks like to provide care in America today," he said.

Cradduck asked for one step lawmakers, employers or communities could take in the next 30 days. For Congress, Resendez said the step is to pass the Older Americans Act, calling it "a no-brainer there for policymakers who want to step up for family caregivers" and noting it is "extremely bipartisan." For employers, he said the first step is asking employees whether they have caregiving responsibilities. He said employers are not systematically asking that question, and without that data they are not designing benefits for people handling both work and caregiving.