AARP LEADERS, ACTIVISTS URGE PASSAGE OF 2018 IOWA CARE ACT AT STATE CAPITOL

As state lawmakers near a key deadline, the 2018 legislative session’s first funnel of February 16, AARP leaders and activists descended on the State Capitol this morning for the Association’s annual lobby day, urging lawmakers to pass the 2018 Iowa CARE (Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable) Act. The bill (HF 2289/SSB 3123), with no cost to the state or taxpayers, would provide vital support for Iowa’s more than 317,000 family caregivers who help their older parents, spouses and other loved ones live safely and independently at home.

A hearing on HF 2289 is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in the House of Representatives’ Human Resources Subcommittee.

The 2018 Iowa CARE Act includes three commonsense steps that will help family caregivers when their loved ones go into the hospital and as they transition home. It requires that: a family caregiver’s name be recorded when their loved one is admitted to a hospital; the caregiver be informed when their loved one is to be moved or discharged; and, the caregiver is provided instruction of the medical tasks they will need to perform at home.

A 2015 AARP Iowa survey of 1,000 Iowa voters age 45+ found that two-thirds (65 percent) of Iowa family caregivers assist their loved ones with complex medical tasks such as wound care and IVs and injections, yet 50 percent of current or past caregivers claim they did not receive instruction for the medical tasks they would be performing at home.

“Right now, family caregivers across Iowa are performing medical and nursing tasks for their loved ones; most have no training,” said Kent Sovern, state director of AARP Iowa, which serves over 370,000 members 50 and older in Iowa. “More disturbing, half of all family caregivers whose loved ones were hospitalized did not receive instruction on medical tasks before discharge. We can fix this.”

Iowa is one of only 14 states that do not have a law similar to the 2018 Iowa CARE Act in place for caregiving families. No federal laws, rules or regulations—including those for Medicare—define the steps hospitals must take so family caregivers are engaged in their loved ones’ care.

Chuck Betts of Keokuk, current AARP Iowa state president and a caregiver for his adult daughter—who underwent a kidney transplant last year— has experienced first-hand why the CARE Act is necessary not just for the well-being of the patient but for those caring for their loved ones.

“We were very happy with the care that our daughter received while in the hospital,” said Betts. “However, the information provided on how to care for her while she was recuperating at home was lacking. Many times, my wife or I had to call back to the doctors asking what to do when it came to wound treatment, medication administration, and safely moving her from bed. Care instructions were provided reactively instead of proactively.”

Dorothy Pisarski of West Des Moines didn’t know what to do or where to turn when her husband Ed had a stroke at the age of 50.

“I was totally unprepared for how to help, what to ask, or where to get services,” said Pisarski.” “When he was released from the hospital, the physician gave me a list of Ed's appointments for the next two weeks. I asked the doctor ‘how do I physically get him into the car and to his appointments?’ He just looked down and shrugged.”

The same 2015 AARP survey found that the vast majority of Iowa’s registered voters 45 and older support the CARE Act. This overwhelming support encompassed voters across political party lines and ideological leanings. Across Iowa, family caregivers spend 295 million hours each year caring for loved ones—a contribution totaling about $3.8 billion in unpaid care. They carry out tasks like managing finances, providing transportation, helping with bathing and dressing, cooking meals and more.

The2018 Iowa CARE Act is supported by many healthcare organizations across the state, including AARP Iowa, the Older Iowans Legislature, Association of Area Agencies on Aging, National Multiple Sclerosis Society and American Heart Association of Iowa.

AARP Iowa’s lobby day activities are part of a larger statewide grassroots effort to pass the 2018 Iowa CARE Act. Iowans have spoken out through several hundred calls and emails to their state lawmakers over the past month urging support for the bill. In addition, a multimedia campaign featured caregiver Sue Olson, of Ames, is currently airing on the four major Des Moines area television networks (WHO, KCCI, WOI, KDSM), as well as online in the Des Moines Register and Cedar Rapids Gazette.

More information on the 2018 Iowa CARE Act can be found at www.aarp.org/IAcareact2018 or www.aarp.org/ia.