Caregiving
Aide shortages and Medicaid cuts are pushing more home care onto families, think tank says
The Milken Institute's aging team warns that thin home care staffing and Medicaid cuts leave families filling gaps, sometimes by cutting work hours, which can shrink retirement savings and future Social Security.
Key facts
- A think tank says aide shortages and Medicaid cuts are shifting care to families.
- Cutting work hours can reduce a caregiver's retirement savings and Social Security.
What happened
The Milken Institute, a nonpartisan economic think tank, published a collection of essays on October 20 called "A Decade of Progress, A Decade to Act" about how to support people living longer. Home Health Care News interviewed Diane Ty, who leads the institute's Future of Aging and Longevity team, in a story on October 28.
Ty said shortages of paid caregivers, worse in some ZIP codes than others, mean that even families who can afford help may not find it, so more care falls on relatives. She said immigration enforcement has worsened labor shortages and that Medicaid cuts could add to the strain. Family members who cut hours or leave jobs lose income now and may also lose retirement contributions and future Social Security benefits.
One essay estimates that about 4 million U.S. children under 18 are family caregivers, and another 5 million young people balance caregiving with school after high school. Another essay, by leaders from The SCAN Foundation and Kaiser Permanente, points to PACE, a Medicare and Medicaid program that provides nursing home-level care while people live at home, as a model for connecting medical care with community support.
What it means for families
If paid help is hard to find, families often end up covering the gaps. Planning early can protect a caregiver's job and finances.
For example: a daughter who works full time could ask her employer about flexible hours or family leave before her father's care needs grow.
Check whether a PACE program serves your parent's area, since it combines medical care, day programs and in-home help.
What this means in New York: workers can ask about New York Paid Family Leave to care for a seriously ill parent, and NY Connects (1-800-342-9871) can explain local home care and PACE options.
What to do this week
- Ask your employer about flexible schedules or family leave before a crisis.
- Check whether a PACE program serves your parent's area.
- Write down the hours of help a parent needs each week.
Sources
More from Home care
- Medicare will pay to train family caregivers, but few families have used it
- CMS moves to add California to home health claims review as enrollment freeze nears Nov. 13 end
- Largest genetic study of Alzheimer's finds 48 new risk regions in DNA