September 26th, 2011

Home caregiving is a tricky subject.  Many families across PA have reported in recent years that while they would like to receive and/or provide care for elderly family members in their own homes, sometimes time and money get in the way.

Those voices have been heard by several state associations, who today will gather at the Capitol to urge lawmakers to pass two bills related to family caregiving.

Reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Two decades ago, Pennsylvania was a pioneer in providing support for family caregivers through a lottery-funded initiative to reimburse some of the costs of keeping a loved one at home.

Today, advocates for the elderly say the state program has fallen out of date and become too restrictive to do the good that it should.

AARP Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Homecare Association, Pennsylvania Association of Area Agencies on Aging and other groups will join lawmakers at a news conference at the state Capitol today calling for passage of legislation that would remove some of the barriers to helping home caregiving.

The similar bills introduced in the state Senate and House would also increase the amount of monthly reimbursements — for the first time in two decades — for purchase of medical supplies, respite care services and home modifications that help keep older members of low- to moderate-income households out of nursing homes.

“It’s important to keep people at home for as long as you can, and it’s less expensive,” said Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, sponsor of one of the bills and chairwoman of the Senate Aging and Youth Committee, which sent her measure to the full Senate for consideration.

Read more at the Post-Gazette.