Senator Susan Collins, a long-time advocate for improving access to long-term care and long-term care insurance, testified that the issue is of critical importance to all Americans, but is of particular concern to women.
"The simple fact that women can expect to live as many as seven years longer than their male counterparts puts them at far greater risk of needing long-term care. Moreover, not only are women far more likely to need long-term care, but they are also the ones who most often shoulder the burden of providing long-term care to their loved ones. Today, almost 75 percent of our nation''s caregivers are women – wives caring for husbands, daughters caring for parents, even daughters-in-law caring for parents-in-law," said Senator Collins.
Long-term care is the major catastrophic health care expense faced by older Americans. It is therefore particularly troubling that, while women are at greater risk of needing long-term care than men, they are usually far less prepared for the financial consequences. In a recent poll of baby boomers, only 27 percent of women surveyed had more than $100,000 in their retirement plans. Thirty-three percent of the women surveyed reported having less than $25,000, an amount that would not even be sufficient to cover one year of nursing home costs.
Senator Collins has launched efforts on several legislative fronts to help address this problem. She is calling for a doubling of funding for the National Family Caregiver Support Program authorized by the Older Americans Act. She also has joined with a bipartisan group of colleagues in sponsoring the Long-Term Care and Retirement Security Act. "This critically important bill will give a tax credit for long-term care expenses of up to $3,000 to help those families already struggling to provide long-term care to a loved one. It will also encourage more Americans to plan for their long-term care needs by providing a tax deduction to help them purchase private long-term care insurance."
Senator Collins, who is also a member of the Special Committee on Aging and the full Committee on Health Education Labor and Pensions, will continue to work to help families meet their long-term care needs.
Also testifying today were Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Blanche Lincoln (D-AK), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and Jean Carnahan (D-MI). Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) chaired the hearing.