Hillary Clinton Puts Family Caregiving on the Political Front-Burner

[riversedge]

Source: forbes.com





Nov 23, 2015 @ 05:55 PM 104 views


Howard Gleckman ,


For the first time in years, maybe for the first time ever, a major presidential candidate has put family caregiving on the political front-burner. Over the weekend, Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton proposed a package of ideas aimed at assisting those who are caring for aging parents or other family members.

Her ideas are modest and won’t provide the level of help many family caregivers need. But she made the issue of caring for frail parents or younger people with disabilities a key plank in her campaign. She’s talking about it. And that will force other candidates to talk about it. That is an enormous step forward.

Clinton’s proposals fit with her campaign’s basic message of helping middle-class families. They especially target a key constituency for her campaign: Women are at the center of caregiving issues because they are both most likely to be recipients of care (as aging mothers) and givers of care (as adult daughters).

Clinton made four proposals:

A 20 percent tax credit up to $1,200 to subsidize out-of-pocket costs of family members caring for aging parents. For those eligible for the full credit, the tax break would help offset the first $6,000 of caregiving costs. However, the credit would phase out for families with higher incomes and disappear for those making $120,000 or more. The proposal is based on Americans Giving Care to Elders (AGE) Act, a bill offered in pact years by Democratic senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland.


A new initiative to improve the lives of direct care workers. Rather than endorsing specific proposals, Clinton urged a “coordinated, government-wide initiative” aimed at improving training, promotions, and better pay for home health aides and other care workers. She also called for better ways to connect trained workers with families who need their assistance.

Giving credit toward Social Security benefits ............

Read more: http://www.forbes.com/sites/howardgleckman/2015/11/23/hillary-clinton-puts-family-caregiving-on-the-political-front-burner/

---

Thank you Hillary.

[William769]

1. This is going to be a major issue and I'm glad she's put it on her agenda.

[Major Hogwash]

2. Too little, too late.

She can promise Popsicles for lunch, it isn't going to work.
She has never delivered on a single campaign promise.

[n2doc]

3. As Mitt put it, 47% don't pay income tax

So how does this help them? I would suspect that the only folks who would be able to take advantage of this in full would be a narrow band making 80-100K/yr. It would be interesting to see an analysis of exactly how many people could actually take advantage of this.

[Rose Siding]

11. You can receive tax credits as refunds even if you don't pay income tax

Like for the child tax credit and 1st time home buyers.

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/IRS-Tax-Return/Can-I-File-an-Income-Tax-Return-if-I-Don-t-Have-Any-Income-/INF14238.html

[n2doc]

22. Depends on how the tax credit is structured.

I haven't seen details on this aspect, even going to the Senate website. It seems unclear if it is 6k or 1,200 also.

[riversedge]

4. THANK YOU Jongsun, Brian & Sandrea for canvassing for @HillaryClinton in

:large

Lisa Changadveja ?@lisachangadveja 17h17 hours ago

THANK YOU Jongsun, Brian & Sandrea for canvassing for @HillaryClinton in #Virginia this wknd! #AAPIforHillary pic.twitter.com/cUYccdvhni





Reno, NV rally at school, Nov 23:


Judge Clay Jenkins ?@JudgeClayJ Nov 17 Dallas, TX

It's so appropriate to have @HillaryClinton visit @MVCOnline, a @dcccd campus, b/c she wants free community college!

[pipoman]

14. What does this have to do with the OP?

[riversedge]

21. The point is that Hillary has lots of folks out doing the needed foot to make sure she is elected

so she can carry out her proposals once in the Oval office


Good question and thanks for asking

[NCjack]

5. Single-payer for all be a big help. /nt

[think]

9. Indeed /nt

[Auggie]

18. +1,000,000

[Cosmic Kitten]

6. Hillary is trying to distract from her Wall st donors and *911 made me do it*

Just another worthless
campaign promise designed
to cover up her gaffs during
the last debate.

Her *we had to bail out Wall St
or else the terrorists win* was
dragging her down...
Now she's the champion of
the working poor again

[houston16revival]

7. Can she offer any tax breaks

for those whose caregiving days are over? It was an expensive period of time
in terms or foregone income and opportunity.

[pipoman]

15. $1,200 per year would have made it much less burdensome, eh?

[Warren Stupidity]

8. 1200 dollars. 50-70k minimum annual expenses for long term care.

Plus a tax credit only helps if you have taxes to credit. Long term care should be part of a medicare program that provides universal health care to all americans from birth to death. Other nations not nearly as wealthy as ours can afford to do this. We're too busy building billion dollar jets.

[riversedge]

28. Her plan is for care in the home by relatives most likely. It will help. Now there is nothing

[Warren Stupidity]

30. 1200 dollars. How does that actually help?

Have you ever done long term in home care? Somebody generally has to be there 24/7. If that means one earner in a family has to stop working that is one entire income gone. If that means hiring a caregiver, the cost is around 18-20/hr minimum, and that is a lot of money. And then there are the other expenses on top of that.

[AllyCat]

10. Up to $1200. For costs that routinely run tens of thousands a year.

What happens to those who don't pay taxes?

And in Fitzwalkerstan, there is no chance for a living wage now that Walker et al. Stopped the home care workers' collective bargaining rights.

[2pooped2pop]

12. $1200 ain't nothing but a bribe.

Won't make a bit of difference in real life.

[pipoman]

13. $6k won't pay for a single month in a residential facility

Increased funding for PACE (program for all inclusive care of the elderly) providers and expansion of PACE programs would be a huge help to family care givers.

This is just the start of a conversation coming soon to plan for care of the booming numbers of seniors.

[CBHagman]

16. We have needed to do something about the poor pay and lack of benefits for home health care workers.

It says a lot about the U.S. that both child care workers and home health care aides are on the lower rungs of the economic ladder, and the political and other leaders who make the most noise about valuing life need to be called out on this.

[Promethean]

17. So lets see what she is proposing.

A Tax break that sounds like a lot to us but it barely makes a dent in the horrifically overpriced service that should just be rolled into a universal healthcare system.

A "coordinated, government-wide initiative" or in other words a study. So one of those things politicians do to make it look like they are doing something without actually fixing any problems.

A Social Security credit. So putting a greater drain on SS to cover something that should be rolled into a universal healthcare system. Because the republicans would never use a faster draining SS pool as a reason to "reform" SS right?

This is the kind of thing a republican would propose to make it look like they are helping people. Is it too much to ask for our politicians to actually propose some liberal policy.

[Paper Roses]

19. My opinion: Just a good line of political baloney.

This will never happen, this issue will die along with so many others after the election.

The cost of caregivers is so high that these figures will not make a dent in the overall expenditures.

Sounds good, won't fly.

Health care for all, birth through death.

Pay for it with a nice big chunk out of the military budget.

Problem solved.

[riversedge]

20. Providing care for an elderly or sick loved one should not mean sacrificing your own secure retireme

Sanders proposal would not even get a committee hearing IMHO. If that is how Sanders wants to pay for it will not fly.

In the meantime-Hillary's proposals are modest but have better chance of making some steps forward.



Tweet
Hillary Clinton ?@HillaryClinton 2h2 hours ago

Providing care for an elderly or sick loved one should not mean sacrificing your own secure retirement.

[azurnoir]

23. front burner very low flame

[riversedge]

25. Does Sander's plan even have a flame? Is the pilot lite on?

[azurnoir]

26. Sanders has not attempted to separate home care from medical coverage

oh and already read it very politically savvy but outside of that very little substance or benefit

[riversedge]

27. Does he Medicare for All "plan" cover home careGIVERS? to the degree Hillary's does??

[Warren Stupidity]

31. $1200 per year? To that extent?

[riversedge]

24. Clinton’s Plan to Invest in the Caring Economy: Recognizing the Value of Family Caregivers and Home

Hope you find this useful




https://www.hillaryclinton.com/p/briefing/factsheets/2015/11/22/caring-economy/


The Briefing

Hillary Clinton’s Plan to Invest in the Caring Economy: Recognizing the Value of Family Caregivers and Home Care Workers
Factsheets


Hillary Clinton’s Plan to Invest in the Caring Economy: Recognizing the Value of Family Caregivers and Home Care Workers

Millions of families are struggling to provide care for their loved ones—for elderly parents and grandparents, and for family members with disabilities or with serious or chronic illnesses. And nearly half of all Americans in their 40s and 50s are part of the “sandwich generation”—with an aging parent and either raising a young child or financially supporting a grown child. Hillary Clinton knows that as baby boomers age, more and more families will need to provide care for or will need care from loved ones. In fact, the number of Americans needing long-term care and support is projected to grow from about 12 million today to 27 million by 2050, and nearly 7 in 10 people turning age 65 will need long-term care at some point in life. That is why today Clinton is putting forward her plans to provide support for the millions of families paying for, coordinating, or providing care for aging or disabled family members.

Many family members, most often spouses and adult daughters, spend time out of the workforce, cut back on hours, or use personal days, vacation, and family time to provide needed care. Providing informal caregiving can strain family finances, with caregivers suffering lost wages, health insurance, and Social Security benefits. Informal caregiving has a real effect on our economy, as well; in 2013 alone, the full economic value of unpaid informal caregiving was estimated at $470 billion. Families also rely on home care workers to help them provide needed care to aging, disabled, or ill family members. Home care workers do hard, essential, compassionate work for millions of Americans. Despite the extraordinary care they provide, home care workers are often invisible and among the lowest paid of any occupation, and nearly half live in households that depend on public assistance. The low wages in these jobs lead to high turnover and limited training, creating care systems that do not work for the families depending on care or the workers who provide it.

Hillary Clinton believes that it is time to reform our tax policies, Social Security system, and work-family policies, to support paid and unpaid caregivers and to recognize their fundamental contributions to families and to America.

As president, Clinton will:

Clinton will provide tax relief to family members who care for ailing parents and grandparents.....................


Launch a Care Workers Initiative to create a coordinated, government-wide initiative ...............


Expand Social Security by counting the hard work of caregivers and giving them the benefits they deserve. Millions of women—and men—take time out of the paid workforce to raise a child, take care of an aging parent or look after an ailing family member. Caregiving is hard work that benefits our entire economy. However, when Americans take time off to take care of a relative, they do not earn credits toward Social Security retirement benefits. This can reduce their Social Security benefits at retirement, since those benefits are calculated based on their top thirty-five years of earnings—an issue that disproportionately impacts women. For years, leaders like Congresswoman Nita Lowey have called out these disparities. No one should face meager Social Security checks because they took on the vital role of caregiver for part of their career. Hillary Clinton believes this is an idea whose time has come: Americans should receive credit toward their Social Security benefits when they are out of the paid workforce because they are acting as caregivers.


Build on the Caregiver Respite program. Caring for a sick family member day in and day out can exact a significant emotional and physical toll. Both caregiving family members, and those they care for, can benefit from occasional temporary relief. As a Senator, Clinton was the lead Senate sponsor of the Lifespan Respite Care Act, which was enacted. It authorizes grants that continue today to improve respite care access for family caregivers of children or adults of any age with support needs. As president, Clinton will go beyond President Obama’s Caregiver Respite budget request—investing $100 million in the initiative over 10 years.

[CharlotteVale]

29. A very tiny drop in a gigantic bucket.