Democrats Have a Plan for the “Invisible Army of Caregivers”

Senator Hillary Clinton released her awaited ”Long-Term Care Agenda” this past week, joining her fellow lead democratic candidates Barack Obama and John Edwards with a plan for how to deal with the rising needs of seniors and caregivers around the country.

The top three democratic candidates have brought the issue of eldercare in America to the forefront of their campaigns, hoping to tap into the millions of caregivers throughout the country. With a flair for the dramatic, the democratic candidates have touted their first-hand experience and each packaged their plans with key phrases like “Invisible Army of Caregivers,” elder abuse, improved nursing, lenders, tax-credits, and of course fancy titles to grab attention.

Obama’s “Fulling our Covenant with Seniors” and Edwards’ “Declaration of Independence for Older Americans” both have titles that have a slight resemblance to advertising campaigns of the 1960’s for tonic water that would cure all illness, but with all the flair and fuss, do these plans have the meat to make the powerful impact needed in this growing and costly issue of eldercare?

Here’s a basic outline of the top democratic eldercare plans:

Clinton’s ”Long-Term Care Agenda”

Supporting Seniors and Caregivers:

• Enacting a new $3,000 Caregiving Tax Credit to provide financial relief to millions of seniors, people with disabilities and their families. Clinton will also invest more than $300 million per year to support unpaid family caregivers.
• Giving more seniors the ability to access long-term care services where and when they need them, including in their homes.
• Doubling the elderly standard deduction to provide additional financial relief for 11 million elderly tax filers.

Making Long-Term Care Insurance More Secure and Affordable

• Requiring tough new consumer protections for long-term care insurance, including ending discrimination against veterans and helping states create consumer advocates for long-term care insurance.
• Offering consumers the same secure long-term care insurance options that members of Congress enjoy.
• Providing a new Long-Term Care Insurance Tax Credit to make secure, high-quality insurance plans affordable.

Improving the Quality of Our Nursing Homes

• Tripling federal support for nursing home ombudsmen programs to protect consumers of long-term care.
• Directing the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to assist state consumer advocates and prosecutors to tackle persistent abuses and new challenges in the long-term care industry.
• Reversing the inexcusable policy of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of withholding information on poor-performing nursing homes and giving seniors full access to usable data on nursing homes, including data on nursing home ownership structures.
• Strengthening our nursing and direct care workforce with a national system of background checks for long-term care workers and $125 million investment in Workforce Improvement Programs.

Obama’s “Fulfilling Our Covenant With Seniors”

The Retirement Security Seniors have Earned

• Protect and Strengthen Social Security.
• Secure Hard-Earned Pensions. Obama will insist that companies keep the promises they have made to their employees.
• Eliminate Income Taxes for Seniors Making Less Than $50,000.
• Encourage Retirement Savings. Obama wants to make saving for retirement easier, cheaper, and more automatic for middle-class workers who get only minor tax benefits to save.
• Protect the Social Security Benefits of Public Employees and their Families.
• Prevent Age Discrimination: More than 38 million men and women age 50 and older are in the labor force. More than 33 percent of men and 23 percent of women ages 65 to 69 decide to continue working rather than fully retiring.

Affordable, High-quality Health Care

• Provide Cheaper Prescription Drugs.
• Fix Medicare’s Prescription Drug “Doughnut Hole.
• Provide Easy-to-Understand Comparisons of the Medicare Prescription Drug Plans.
• Stop Long-Term Care Insurance Fraud.
• Protect and Strengthen Medicare.

A Dependable Safety Net to Shelter them from Poverty

• Protect Housing Assistance.
• Ensure Energy Assistance.
• Ensure Food Assistance.
• Protect and Strengthen Medicaid.

Protection from Fraud and Abuse

• Protect Seniors During Emergencies.
• Protect Aging Veterans.

Edwards’ “Declaration of Independence for Older Americans”

Financial Independence

• Keep the promise of Social Security.
• Protect Pensions and Help Families Save.
• Fight Predatory Lenders.
• Preserve Freedom to Work.

Health Security

• Protect the Future of Medicare.
• Make Prescription Drugs Affordable.
• Revolutionize Chronic Care.
• Strengthen Geriatric Primary Care.

Living with Dignity

• Offer Choice in Long-Term Care.
• Improve Nursing Homes and Crack down on Elder Abuse.
• Promote Livable Communities and Accessible Transportation.

Filed under: Elder Issues, Eldercare, Long Term Care, Politics