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AARP AARP States Advocacy

New State Law Helps Family Caregivers

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AARP Mississippi is celebrating passage of the Caregiver Act, which took effect July 1. The law allows hospital patients to designate a family caregiver and requires the hospital to notify the caregiver before the patient is discharged or transferred to another facility.

In addition, the hospital must make a reasonable attempt to prepare the caregiver for follow-up tasks at home, such as managing medications or dressing wounds.

About 565,000 Mississippians provide unpaid care for loved ones, at a value of $5.2 billion per year.

Lawmakers in 15 other states have passed similar legislation also backed by AARP: Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia and West Virginia.

About AARP States
AARP is active in all 50 states and Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Connect with AARP in your state.