With the next legislative session just around the corner, an advocacy group for Americans over 50 is calling on lawmakers to enact policies to support family caregivers.
AARP Advocacy Director Amy Gallant says one proposal, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Patrick Corey, would allow family caregivers to be paid for their services through Medicaid.
“The care that family is giving is unlike any care in previous generations. The care is complex, it’s costly. It goes on for decades in some cases,” she says. “These situations from a financial impact happen so unexpectedly and so quickly. And yet it’s so common.”
Gallant says Maine has 178,000 caregivers, many of whom face financial hardship while looking after loved ones at home.
