The Credit for Caring Act was first proposed in 2016  by Representative Sanchez of California and Reed of New York for a three-thousand-dollar federal tax credit. In 2021, an updated Act increased the tax credit to five thousand dollars. Both versions require changing  the federal tax code thus multiple congressional committees weigh in on the bill before reaching the floor for a full membership vote. This year’s sponsors are Senators Susan Collins (ME), Shelley Moore Capito (WV), Elizabeth Warren (MA), Lisa Murkowski (AK),  Maggie Hassan (NH), and Michael Bennet (CO)  and Representatives Mike Carey (OH) and Linda Sanchez (CA). Keep in mind, the current president included the caregiver tax credit as part of his platform in the last election. 

Groundhog Day

This history of the Act reminds me of the 1993 movie Groundhog Day staring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. According to ScreenRant, Did you know that Bill Murray’s character Phil Conners (Phil as in Punxsutawney Phil) relived that same snowy cold fateful day In Punxsutawney Pennsylvania  thirty-four times before he broke the spell.  The Credit for Caring Act is stuck in a Groundhog Day cycle of doom.

Caregivers Need a Break

Real Americans are sacrificing their own financial futures to care for vulnerable friends and family. This is not sustainable. The issue is our federal governments do not live with the same constraints as its citizens who are feeling the financial, physical, and emotional stress of caregiving.  In fact, some state governments are passing their own caregiver tax credits.  Governors are promoting their states as family and caregiver friendly to lure back former residents and attract younger workers and their families. The reality that it takes tax revenue to run state and local governments requires healthy businesses and citizens. 

Political Class Is Out of Touch

Yet federal legislators fail to see and hear us from their Ivory Towers. Today, we are experiencing the oldest congress in our history.  But unlike the rest of us, they are surrounded by paid staff to attend to their caregiving needs. In addition, they have the most comprehensive health insurance offered in this nation.  Deductibles, co-payments, service denials, and delayed care are not a part of their care experience.

Significant Workforce Shortage

In addition, the post pandemic workforce looks mighty different than 2016. Today the labor shortage is forcing employers to make accommodations for working family caregivers and parents. Moreover, human capital specialist know that a gym membership is useless to an over-scheduled parent or caregiver.  

We Demand Action 

Back to the movie, we cannot wait for the government to wake up to the realities that caregivers endure on their own.  We need to educate them to get this Act passed.  It is no longer enough that this bill has bicameral, bipartisan support if it never gets voted on by the entire congress. No more patting congressional champions on the back when they don’t reach the goal.  

Your Voice Counts

Pick a topic that resonates with your own issues and beliefs.  This bullet point contains a reference link to read more.  I am asking you to choose one or more and write or call your Senators and Representative to get this over the finish line.  The number of Americans reaching age 65 ballooned to ten million a day in 2019 and this won’t stop till all the Boomers blow out their sixty-fifth birthday candles.

•  Empty nesters are stuck in family homes that do not fit their needs. The housing market changed dramatically as interest rates rose, supply chain bottle necks raised the cost of materials, investors owning the rental market and inflating rents. Empty nesters become house poor unable to afford home-based custodial care and living expenses simultaneously.

• After lifting the rent moratorium of the public health emergency, many senior adults living on a fix income, are getting priced out of the homes.  It is not just the housing costs but utilities, groceries, healthcare costs, transportation, and other expenses that continue to rise. In fact, many unpaid family caregivers leave employment to care for loved ones further deepening their financial stress.

• The cost of childcare and senior care is soaring to meet the need for higher wages for care workers who also need a livable wage for their family. Paid caregivers deserve a living wage.  Insurance companies do not pay for post-acute care at home or severely limit the number of covered visits.

• Residential long-term care facilities responded to the disaster by cutting occupation rates due to labor and material shortages. Family caregivers struggle to provide the intensity of care needed at home but find residential care either not affordable, available, or satisfactory for their loved one.

• Unpaid family caregivers, on average, did not budget for senior care. Many families are financial tapped out, yet they continue to offer their time and resources to care for others. In response, the level of personal debt has increased which diverts the scarce resources to pay interest on credit cards and loans.

• With caregiving being a majority female obligation (not to say that men are not participating) many female workers reduced their hours or left the job market when the time and energy constraints become impossible to endure.

• Caregivers pay for out-of-pocket expenses not covered by insurance including the costly chronic care management and custodial care cleverly not covered by the Affordable Care Act.

 Let’s Get it Done!

My apologies if you find my language to strong but what is it going to take?  This is not a new issue.  Unpaid family caregivers, working parents, care workers, and many other selfless people who care for our most vulnerable deserve our help. I hope this is the year we break the Groundhog Day movie spell and get the Act passed.  Like Bill Murray,  I am frustrated that we repeat the same routine and expect a different outcome.  Pass the Credit for Caring Act. #CareCantWait #TheCareEconomy