Michigan CARE Act gains final passage!

Legislation supporting Michigan’s 2 million family caregivers won bipartisan passage in the state House today and heads to the governor's desk.

The House voted 70-38 in favor of Senate Bill 352, the Michigan Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act that would support and equip family caregivers with the basic information and training they need when their loved ones go into the hospital and as they transition home.

The Senate concurred in minor amendments immediately afterward. The Senate unanimously passed the bill in December. The Snyder administration has signaled that the Governor supports the bill.

Family caregivers are an unpaid silent army who help make it possible for older Michiganders to live independently at home – where they want to be.

“We are pleased and grateful for bipartisan state House and Senate support of family caregivers, Michigan’s unsung heroes who perform a great labor of love every day,” said Paula D. Cunningham, State Director of AARP Michigan. “They are the first line of defense against older Americans being forced from their homes and into costly nursing homes or back into the hospital.”

In Michigan, there are 2 million caregivers at any point in the year who devote 1.4 billion hours in unpaid care to loved ones at a total value of $15.5 billion, according to a report by AARP’s Public Policy Institute.

The Michigan CARE Act, sponsored by Sen. Margaret O’Brien, R-Portage, is intended to help families when a loved one is admitted to a hospital by ensuring that hospitals:

• Record name of the family caregiver;
• Notify the family caregiver when the patent is going to be discharged back home or moved to another facility;
• Provide instructions to the caregiver about any medical tasks he or she will need to perform when the patient comes home.

AARP Michigan sent letters to all state Representatives earlier this week indicating the tally on Senate Bill 352 would be considered a “key vote” by the organization. By designating the CARE Act bill a key vote, AARP is letting legislators know it will inform members and the public about how lawmakers voted on this critical bill.

These Michigan Representatives voted in favor of the CARE Act:

Afendoulis, Barrett, Bizon, Brinks, Bumstead, Callton, Canfield, Chatfield, Cole, Cotter, Cox, Crawford, Dianda, Driskell, Farrington, Forlini, Franz, Garcia, Geiss, Glardon, Glenn, Goike, Graves, Heise, Hooker, Howell, Howrylak, Hughes, Iden, Inman, Jacobsen, Jenkins, Johnson, Kelly, Kesto, Kivela, Kosowski, LaFontaine, Lauwers, LaVoy, Leonard, Leutheuser, Lucido, Lyons, Maturen, McBroom, McCready, Miller A., Muxlow, Nesbitt, Outman, Pagel, Pettalia, Poleski, Potvin, Price, Pscholka, Rendon, Roberts B., Runestad, Sheppard, Somerville, Tedder, Theis, Vaupel, VerHeulen, Victory, Webber, Whiteford, Yonker

 

 

These Michigan Representatives voted against the CARE Act: Banks, Brunner, Byrd, Chang, Chirkun, Clemente, Cochran, Durhal, Faris, Garrett, Gay-Dagnogo, Greig, Greimel, Guerra, Hoadley, Hovey-Wright, Irwin, LaGrand, Lane, Liberati, Love, Moss, Neeley, Pagan, Phelps, Plawecki, Roberts, S., Robinson, Rutledge, Santana, Schor, Singh, Smiley, Talabi, Townsend, Wittenberg, Yanez, Zemke

 

 

Groups supporting the bill include AARP Michigan, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Area Agencies on Aging Association of Michigan, Michigan Directors of Services to the Aging, Michigan Association of Health Plans, Sparrow Health System, Henry Ford Health System, Trinity Health, the Wolverine State Missionary Baptist Convention, Astra Zeneca, the Macomb County Board of Commissioners, and Alzheimer’s Association Michigan Chapters.

 

The House’s support is echoed across Michigan, according to a fall EPIC/MRA survey. The poll shows 71 percent of state voters support the CARE Act, while only 12 percent oppose and 17 percent were undecided or refused to respond.

 

CARE Act legislation has been enacted in 21 other states to date.