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Floor Speech

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Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I want to address the Senate on an issue that is very close to my heart.

Now that we are well into the month of November and our Nation's observance of the National Family Caregivers Month, I would like to recognize the family caregivers across this Nation and the difficult and vitally important work that they do.

I have a brother and a sister. Both of our parents passed away in the middle--well, 2014 and 2015, but they both suffered from Alzheimer's at the same time. It was very, very difficult on all of us to figure out the best way to ease their pain and to satisfy--it was a very difficult time--how we, as a family, were going to be providing for their care.

This experience motivated me to join my colleague Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado as a cosponsor of the bipartisan Assisting Caregivers Today--or ACT--Caucus.

The ACT Caucus seeks to bring much-needed attention to all of the caregivers and the issues that their caregivers face from all backgrounds. It seeks to find bipartisan ways to lessen the emotional and financial toll for those individuals who are caring for family members. And this help is needed by so, so many.

Eighty-three percent of the help provided to older adults in the United States comes from family members, friends, or even unpaid caregivers. Nearly half of all caregivers who provide help to older adults do so--like we do--for someone living with Alzheimer's or with another type of dementia.

In my home State of West Virginia, we have about 85,000 family caregivers who are living with someone who has Alzheimer's and caring for them. As we know, those of us who have been down this road, there are no easy solutions here. Not only is it emotionally taxing on a family--there is no simple path--it also can be very, very expensive.

My West Virginia Alzheimer's advocates always share with me their incredible stories--they actually let me come to one of their support groups, which I needed at the time--and also the challenges that they have as caregivers. One of these challenges is navigating the current complex medical system needed to care for someone living with Alzheimer's or, more often than not, other chronic medical conditions.

This is one of the reasons I joined with my colleague Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan--we have done a couple of things together--in introducing the Comprehensive Care for Alzheimer's Act.

This bill would address the challenge by asking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid for some innovation to be able to test dementia care management models. It enables individuals to more seamlessly and successfully navigate healthcare and social support systems and to obtain more timely access to care.

The model is designed to reach as many Medicare beneficiaries as possible, especially individuals from rural and medically underserved areas. It provides comprehensive care services, including caregiver education and support; ensures patients have access to providers with dementia care experience; and also to reimburse providers through payment based on performance.

This is something that could have helped my brother, sister, and I as we were navigating this difficult path, by helping us to coordinate the care that our parents not just received but what they deserved. It also could have helped them by ensuring that they were receiving the best care at all times.

We must recognize the importance that our family caregivers play not only during National Family Caregivers Month, but every day, and embrace those commonsense solutions like this one.

So in honor of my parents, I would like to say that many of us across the country who are dealing with this have so much heartache and so much difficulty and so much difficult decisions that I am always trying to seek the best way to try to help those families who are going down that path.

Thank you.

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