d

Please circulate widely to networks and affiliates

URGENT APPROPRIATIONS ALERT
Lifespan Respite Care Act (P.L. 109-442)
Deadline: March 15, 2007

The Lifespan Respite Care Act authorizes competitive state grants to Aging and Disability Resource Centers in collaboration with a public or private non-profit state respite coalition or organization to make quality respite available and accessible to family caregivers regardless of age or disability. The law allows grantees to identify, coordinate and build on federal, state and local respite resources and funding streams, and would help support, expand and streamline planned and emergency respite, provider recruitment and training, and caregiver training.

STATUS: The Lifespan Respite Care Act was signed into law on December 21, 2006. The new law cannot be implemented until Congress appropriates the funding for FY08.

ACTION: Contact your US Representative and urge them to sign onto the Congressional letter to House Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations Committee Chair and Ranking member to fund the Lifespan Respite Care Act at $40 million in the FY08 Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations bills. The letter is being circulated in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representatives Langevin (D-RI) and Ferguson (R-NJ). Deadline is March 15, 2007.

To identify your federal legislators and their contact information, visit www.congress.org and enter your zip code. You can send an email or fax containing the message below. The most effective way is to call them directly. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for the Member’s office and then ask for staff who handle appropriations or health issues.

MESSAGE:

Please have Congressman_____________ sign onto the letter to the House Labor, HHS, Education appropriations committee chair and ranking member requesting full funding for the Lifespan Respite Care Act at $40 million in the FY 08 Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations bill. The letter is being circulated by Representatives Langevin (D-RI) and Ferguson (R-NJ).

TALKING POINTS/FACTS:

• Respite, the most frequently requested family support service, has been shown to provide family caregivers with relief necessary to maintain their health, keep marriages intact, and avoid or delay more costly nursing home or foster care placements.
  
  
• In times of serious budget constraints, the value of respite is exceptional. Delaying nursing home or institutional placement of just one individual with a chronic condition for several months can save Medicaid, private insurance, or the family thousands of dollars.
  
  
• The nation’s estimated 50 million family caregivers provide 80% of long-term care at an uncompensated value of $306 billion/year, more than twice what is spent nationwide on nursing homes and paid home care combined and comparable to 2004 Medicare spending.
  
  
• American businesses lose $17.1 to $33.6 billion annually in lost productivity costs related to caregiving responsibilities.