The Caregiver Act

Our Mission is the passage of the Caregiver Act.

A part of the 501c3 The Caregiver Project.

The passage of this act creates an economy of caregiving where the moral imperative to take good care of one another connects us all.

To improve quality of care for elders.
$12 per hour wage increase for Certified Nursing assistants and home care workers.
To fill the shortage of 8 million caregivers in the workforce by 2028.

Situation

Healthcare for seniors and people with disabilities in America is in crisis due to a lack of caregivers. The lack of caregivers is due to the substandard wages as it relates to the demands of the job. This shortage played a major role in the spread of COVID 19 and the high mortality rates in long term care facilities because over half of all caregivers work more than one job to make ends meet.

There is currently a shortage of 2 million care givers (nursing assistants, homecare workers, CNA/HCAs)
An additional 10,000 people per day turn 65 years of age in America
We will need 8 million more caregivers by 2026, further exacerbating the shortage and increasing the negative impact to quality of care for our most vulnerable Americans

Background

Caregivers are the eyes, ears, and voice of our elder population, and are the most knowledgeable about the patients’ needs and wants. They are responsible for communications with the physicians and nurses who direct the care, as well as helping families understand the care their loved ones are receiving. Caregivers have no voice due to their lack of power and stature within their industry. Caregivers are leaving the profession for better pay, better benefits, and less stressful jobs.

There are currently 5 million caregivers in America: 4.5 million are women; 2.5 million are women of color. The average caregiver is a single women of color with 2.3 kids
Half of all caregivers receive support from one or more safety net programs – Medicaid, SNAP, EITC, etc
60% of the time spent with a patient is spent by one of these caregivers

Assessment

A majority of Americans feel anxiety and helplessness about who is going to care for our elders. Substandard care and/or no care is now the normal due to lack of personnel. The shortage is negatively impacting infection control practices, as evidenced by the spread of COVID.

Caregivers working more than 1 job carry infections from facility to facility
For every dollar spent on a caregiver wage subsidy a minimum of $1.50 will be saved or returned to the federal budget through reduction of caregiver reliance on public safety net services
Elevation of 17.5 million people to the middle class immediately and almost 30 million by 2026