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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | May 12, 2023 12:26 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Melissa Cerrato |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Family Caregiver Support |
| The need for family caregiver support is dire. My staff and I have personally heard from a numerous constituents who have had to make drastic changes to their lives in order to afford to provide proper care for their loved ones. Most recently my office provided notary services for a woman forced to divorce her husband so that she could then qualify to become his caregiver. Across the United States, an estimated three million people receive home and community-based care through Medicaid waivers. Unfortunately, under federal regulation spouses are considered to be “legally responsible individuals” and cannot be paid for providing care that they are already obligated to provide due to their relationship to the care receiver. However, as a remedy, the federal government allows states to apply for waivers to put aside federal rules for institutional care and provide services beyond those covered by Medicaid. Pennsylvanians needing care deserve to have the option of their spouse as their caregiver in their own home without having to make monumental financial sacrifices. For this reason, I plan to introduce legislation that would require the Department of Human Services to submit a waiver application to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to establish a program allowing spouse caregivers to receive payment on behalf of the services they provide. Please consider joining me and co-sponsoring this much needed legislation that would provide spouse caregivers with the resources they deserve for taking care of their loved ones. |
Introduced as HB1218