Proposed Bill Would Help Families Provide Followup Care

AARP Kansas is urging state lawmakers to pass legislation in 2015 that could reduce hospital readmissions by improving communication between medical staff and caregivers.

Known as the Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act, the measure would require hospitals to ask each patient to designate a caregiver, notify the caregiver when the patient is moved or discharged, and teach the caregiver how to perform follow-up procedures before the patient goes home.

More than 400,000 Kansans are family caregivers, a 2011 AARP report showed. And according to a 2014 scorecard on long-term services and supports, about 38 percent of Kansas caregivers experience worry or stress.

AARP Kansas is encouraging members to ask their legislators to support the CARE Act. For contact information, go to kslegislature.org and click on Find Your Legislator or call 800-432-3924.