The number of Americans needing long-term care in the United States is expected to more than double from 12 million today to 27 million by 2050. Someone turns 65 every eight seconds, and more than 70 percent of seniors will need care at some point in their lives for an average of three years each. As a nation, we simply don’t have the capacity to provide that kind of care under our current system.
Ultimately, we need federal reforms to build out the infrastructure of our long-term care system and ensure that people can age in our country without the fear of going bankrupt or having to make huge sacrifices for their families. But at the state level, policymakers and organizations representing care workers and consumers are already leading the way in developing plans to ensure aging residents and their caregivers receive all the care and support they need. They’re experimenting with community-based care, job training for care workers, and everything in between. To support their efforts, Caring Across Generations is working with Congress on a plan that will ensure states have the resources to pilot these programs and to develop innovative ways to let their residents age with dignity, independence and choice, including supporting the workers who provide this care.
Last week, Caring Across coalition members, including Jobs With Justice affiliates in Chicago, Maine, Vermont, Missouri and Colorado, came to Washington, D.C., to lobby and testify before Congress about the work their states are doing to provide quality, affordable long-term care to their aging populations.
Caring Across Generations is laying the groundwork to introduce federal legislation to support this kind of state innovation fund, but we need your help to bring this plan to Congress. Show your support by signing this petition now!
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