Klobuchar Holds Senate Hearing on “Sandwich Generation” and Increasing Costs of Elder Ca
05/16/2007
Washington, D.C. - In an effort to examine the economic impact of elder care, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) held a Joint Economic Committee (JEC) hearing today addressing the challenges adult children face in providing for their aging parents and what businesses are doing to help their employees maneuver this complicated system. The committee hosted four expert panelists, including Leni Wilcox with Elder Care Partners in St. Paul and Scott Weisberg, Vice President of Compensation, Benefits and Staffing at General Mills in Golden Valley.
“Adult children today are increasingly responsible for helping their parents manage every day tasks. At the same time, these adult daughters and sons are raising their own children and struggling to meet work responsibilities. Too many Americans are literally being sandwiched by these competing demands,” remarked Klobuchar.
Many elder caregivers try to juggle the competing demands of work and caring for their own families. Though their care is informal and unpaid, it comes at a significant cost—to the individual caregivers, their employers, and the economy. Nearly 20 percent of all older Americans living at home need help with personal care, such as eating and household chores – and these individuals are receiving an average of 25 hours of care each week. The work of these unpaid services was approximately $103 billion in 2005, or one-third of the roughly $309 billion spent for long-term care that year.
“Caregivers today are overwhelmed; they are frustrated with our fragmented, costly, and confusing system of services. One of the things I have proposed is a federal elder care tax credit to help defray some of the costs family incur as they care for an aging or ailing family member,” said Klobuchar.
The committee hosted four panelists who provided insight into current private and public resources supporting adult children as they care for their parents.
· Leni Wilcox, Division Director, Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, Community Services for the
ElderCare Partners, a coalition of Twin Cities area agencies that serve their community
· Scott Weisberg, Vice President, Compensation, Benefits and Staffing, General Mills, Inc.
· Richard Johnson, Principal Research Associate, Urban Institute
· Virginia Morris, Author of How to Care for Aging Parents
Leni Wilcox explained that caregivers are in need of relief as today’s seniors are living longer than ever.
“Caregivers are the heart of the long-term care system and we must do more to address their physical, emotional and financial challenges. Caregivers encounter chronic conditions such as heart attacks and heart disease at almost twice the normal rate,” commented Wilcox in her opening remarks.
Scott Weisberg discussed General Mills’ approach to its employee’s caring for aging relatives. The company, which has 18,000 U.S. employees, has invested in an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for over twenty years, offers three weeks of paid vacation per year, and offers Long-Term Care insurance at a discount price. General Mills also provides a referral service for their employees to give them guidance in caring for their elderly parents.
“During a busy time at work, I was responsible for caring for my one year old son when my wife was traveling for business and I received the news that my father, who lived 1,500 miles away, was diagnosed with cancer. Thankfully, I was entitled to General Mills’ EAP funding for child care assistance and I received immense support from my bosses who encouraged me to take my father to appointments and look for care,” noted Weisberg.
Senator Klobuchar is committed to easing the burden on adults caring for their aging parents; seventy percent of Americans between the ages of 45 and 55 have at least one living parent and adult children account for over half of the most common elder care providers. Klobuchar recently called for an investigation into alleged wrongdoing by insurance companies who were employing improper tactics to deny long–term care insurance claims made by seniors who have paid their premiums for years. She also has proposed a $1,200 tax credit for families caring for aging loved ones.
To supplement her previous work, Klobuchar plans to introduce a comprehensive bill in the coming weeks addressing the multiple aspects of the challenges faced by families caring for elderly parents. The bill aims to provide financial relief to elder care providers, expand support and referral services available to caregivers, and assist more Americans in planning for their own long-term care costs.