Policy Update

Report Highlights States’ Initiatives for Supporting Caregivers

A new report from the AARP Public Policy Institute details the needs of family caregivers and examines model programs from eight different states that could be replicated to benefit caregivers. According to the report, states play a large and growing role in financing and delivering services to support and sustain family and informal caregivers, who are the backbone of long-term care.

The report highlights three trends in supporting family caregivers: (1) assessment of caregivers needs; (2) consumer direction in family caregiver support services; and (3) collaborations on caregiving between the aging network and health care providers. According to the report, an estimated 44 million Americans serve as unpaid caregivers for elderly or disabled family members. And the number is growing, rather than decreasing, as policy veers sharply toward more home and community-based care, rather than institutionalization. Read More

U.S. Cracks Down on Canadian Prescription Drug Purchases

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency has initiated a crackdown on over-the-border prescription drug purchases. According to a recent report in the Los Angeles Times, about 13,000 packages of prescription drugs—most ordered by U.S. seniors from licensed Canadian pharmacies—have been held up by U.S. Customs and Border Protection since November. The crackdown represents a change in a long-standing policy of the Food and Drug Administration to allow individuals to receive medications for personal use from reputable Canadian pharmacies, even though it is illegal to order drugs from abroad.

The unannounced effort has provoked an uproar among seniors and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle who complain that it has deprived people of their medications without warning. Several members of Congress want an investigation into whether the effort was timed to help the Bush administration's Medicare drug program. The crackdown began November 17—two days after the Medicare program was launched. Customs officials late last month acknowledged the stepped-up enforcement against the purchase of medications from abroad but said the change was not related to the launch of the Medicare drug benefit. Read More

Transcript Available for Legislative Hearing on Caregiving

A transcript is now available from the informational hearing on caregiving held by the California State Senate Subcommittee on Aging and Long-Term Care. The hearing, “Comprehensive Strategy to Support Family Caregivers,” was held November 15, 2005 in the state capitol. Committee Chair Senator Elaine Alquist and members of the Subcommittee requested policy recommendations that could be considered by the Legislature in 2006 in an effort to improve the lives of informal and formal family caregivers. Family caregivers and other witnesses provided testimony on various topic areas. Please contact your legislators to express support for programs benefiting caregivers. For more information, please contact the California State Senate Subcommittee on Aging and Long-Term Care.

The hearing transcript is available online as a PDF (Portable Document Format) file. To view and print the document you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. Please visit the Adobe website to download Adobe Reader 7.0. Select the "Read More" link to download the report. Read More

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