Momentum Continues to Build for Credit for Caring Act

Earlier this year, U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced the bipartisan Credit for Caring Act, which would provide up to a $3,000 nonrefundable tax credit to working family caregivers for qualified expenses. 

As National Caregivers Month comes to a close, this critical legislation has continued to gain support from folks across the country. Just this week, the Alzheimer’s Association endorsed the Credit for Caring Act in a letter detailing that “Nearly half of care contributors – those who are caregivers of someone with Alzheimer’s and/or contribute financially to their care – cut back on their own expenses (including food, transportation and medical care) to pay for dementia-related care of a family member or friend. On average, care contributors spend more than $5,000 per year of their own money (out-of-pocket) to provide care for someone with Alzheimer’s or another dementia. Care contributors are 28 percent more likely than other adults to eat less or go hungry because they cannot afford to pay for food. And, among caregivers, 74 percent report they are ‘somewhat’ to ‘very’ concerned about maintaining their own health since becoming a caregiver. The Credit for Caring Act would provide working families with a credit for 30 percent of caregiving expenses up to a maximum of $3,000 per year, which would help ease the financial burden many caregivers face.”

This endorsement by the Alzheimer’s Association follows support from the AARP, Association of University Centers on Disabilities, Autism Speaks, Autism Society, American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Caregiver Action Network, Center for Elder Care and Advanced Illness (Altarum Institute), Family Caregiver Alliance (National Center on Caregiving), Family Voices, Home Care Association of America, Lutheran Services in America, Lutheran Services in America Disability Network, National Alliance for Caregiving, National Association for Home Care & Hospice, National Council on Aging, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and The Arc.

In addition, the Credit for Caring Act is also cosponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Angus King (I-ME), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Edward Markey (D-MA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and John Tester (D-MT).

As Senator Ernst noted earlier last week in her column that appeared in the Cedar Rapids Gazette: “If you ask them, family caregivers would not trade their role for anything, but they would appreciate a bit of additional help and support. That is why it is so important we honor National Family Caregivers Month this November, and take time to be grateful for the more than 317,000 Iowans, and 40 million people across the country, serving as family caregivers at any given time during the year. Offering a bit of additional help and support is also why I have proposed the bipartisan Credit for Caring Act, which would provide up to a $3,000 non-refundable tax credit for working family caregivers supporting a loved one in need of long-term care.”

To learn more about the Credit for Caring Act, click here.

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