Request that HCFA expand provisions for Medicaid payments to family members who provide care. Take steps to provide a single entry point into the aging network for access to medical, housing, social, legal, and financial information. With a fragmented health care system, services must be uncovered and paid for through an overlapping array of providers with different eligibility requirements. Families may feel pressured to accept the most expedient or high profile option, such as a nursing home, when community-based services could provide a less restricted environment with a higher quality of life. Recognize aging and caregiving as women's issues.
Most caregivers are women and most older people are also women.
Enlist the help of the Women's Project. Provide respite care for the caregiver. Encourage long-term care providers to explore day care and respite care options in existing facilities as part of a continuum of care. Examine the reimbursement systems for these services and streamline paperwork to make them more readily available to family caregivers and more financially attractive to providers. Caregiver burnout is a greater cause for institutionalization of a loved one than an exacerbation of the medical condition.