WHEREAS, families can be an important part of the solution to the serious shortage of options for providing affordable, accessible, long-term care to persons who are functionally dependent or are suffering from dementia such as Alzheimer's disease; and

WHEREAS, formal home care services, nationwide, are estimated to annually cost about $32,000,000,000, and nursing home services about $83,000,000,000; and

WHEREAS, the annual cost of care provided by family caregivers, nationwide, for free has an estimated value of approximately $196,000,000,000; and

WHEREAS, family caregivers provide over 80 percent of home-care services and over 90 percent of all long-term care services; and

WHEREAS, about two-thirds of older people living in the community rely solely on informal help, mainly from wives and adult daughters; and

WHEREAS, most people who need long-term care prefer to receive assistance and services at home and to stay in their communities, near family and friends, for as long as possible; and

WHEREAS, caregiving itself has become more difficult, costly, and time-consuming for all family caregivers partly because those who need long-term care are living longer with chronic illnesses and disabilities; and

WHEREAS, creative governmental solutions to the problem could include providing funding for assistive devices, such as grab bars, safety devices, and wheelchair ramps, to modify homes and help relatives provide long-term care in the household setting; and

WHEREAS, many states have implemented or are expanding programs to assist family caregivers in providing care to elderly and disabled individuals who require long-term care; and

WHEREAS, as long-term care costs continue to rise, it is in the interest of the State to assist family caregivers to continue to provide day-to-day long-term care for their relatives in the home and those who require such care off Medicaid and out of costly nursing homes; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, that this body urges the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Human Services (DHS) to explore methods of providing assistance to family caregivers who give free and continuing day-to-day care in the home to relatives needing long-term care; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in developing methods of providing assistance to family caregivers that DOH and DHS also account for the caregiver's ability to support the costs of providing care; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DOH and DHS develop proposed legislation for this purpose and submit it to the Legislature no later than 20 days prior to the start of the 2006 Legislative Session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of Health, and Director of Human Services.

Report Title:

URGING REIMBURSEMENT OF AT-HOME CAREGIVERS