Elder care costs are outpacing inflation. Americans want a lifeline.

The cost of caring for sick and aging loved ones doesn’t show up on store shelves, but it’s front and center for voters like Sharon Zimmer.

Zimmer, 65, of Onalaska, Wisconsin, has been caring for her husband, Chuck Zimmer, since he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and dementia in 2018.

“Everything we’ve worked so hard for is taking care of her,” said Sharon, one of the more than 38 million unpaid family caregivers Vice President Kamala Harris appealed to last week. with the suggestion Medicare coverage for home care.

Since 2015, the number of family caregivers in the United States has increased by nearly 4 million. According to AARPcausing many to leave the workforce. For Sharon, that decision came in 2021, when she gave up her part-time retail job after it became too much to care for Chuck, now 67. The move reduced their annual take-home income by about $24,000.

The couple now has health insurance through Medicare, but they didn’t qualify for the program when Chuck was first diagnosed, which took a big hit to their finances. Even now, the Zimmers still dip into their pension funds to subsidize her care. Their out-of-pocket costs will exceed $17,000 this year, including security and transportation.

That’s up from more than $7,000 in 2016, up from the $7,200 average unpaid caregivers shoulder each year, according to AARP. And inflation has generally slowed annual rate 2.4% In September, there were expenses for home care of the sick and elderly 8.7% is high federal data compared to the same time last year.

Sharon called Harris’ proposal “great.” While she tends to support Democratic presidential nominee Harris on women’s rights issues, she called the new plan “a deciding factor for us.”

“Starting today, Harris will have my vote,” he said a battlefield state – Where is Harris? He is preparing to make his sixth trip in the election campaign Thursday — mostly surrounded by friends who support former Republican President Donald Trump.

Maintenance costs continued to weigh on millions of households, even as the cost of other goods and services rose cool or just the opposite. Many are long-term, essential expenses that eat into other financial buffers, said Kelsey Flock, a dementia care specialist at the La Crosse County Aging and Disability Resource Center in Wisconsin.

“If your loved one is diagnosed younger, they’re going to retire, they’re going to lose income, maybe they’re going to lose primary caregiver health insurance,” Flock said, “so you get all the extras.”

Trump also promised lower costs for caregiversalthough without specific legislative details. Any plan to do so by the next administration would likely require congressional action.

Harris campaign said in a fact sheet said the home care plan would be paid for in full by “expanding Medicare drug price negotiations, increasing rebates that drug manufacturers cover for certain brand-name drugs in Medicare, and combating Medicare fraud.” The campaign did not estimate the value of the proposal, but said similar proposals are sold for $40 billion annually.

In response to multiple requests for comment, the Trump campaign released the same statement (as written) twice: “President Trump’s economic agenda is to make America affordable again for caregivers and seniors, with my historic defeat of inflation, price cuts, and no tax on Social Security. will do. .”

The economic costs of care are not shared equally, with women and people of color bearing a disproportionate burden. The average caregiver spends about a quarter of their income on out-of-pocket expenses. AARP data. But those aged 18-34 spend 42% of their income on care. For African Americans, it’s 34%, and Hispanic and Latino caregivers spend 47%.

“My research has shown that Black and Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries are less likely to be referred to higher-quality home health agencies,” said Shekinah Fashaw-Walters, a professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. “This lack of access means that it takes more time, more energy, more knowledge and more resources to find the support a caregiver needs for their loved one.”

Like the Zimmers, many households find that Medicare and Medicaid don’t cover all of the costs associated with elder care, especially the complex conditions of patients whose needs change over time. Medicare covers Chuck’s medications, but not nursing home or home care. The couple bought a long-term care policy when they were in their 50s, but they say the out-of-pocket costs for a memory care facility would be prohibitive and they don’t qualify for Medicaid.

Such coverage gaps are widespread, said David Grabowski, a professor of health policy at Harvard Medical School. “It really highlights how broken our system is for older adults with dementia and their families,” she said.

while childcare affordability crisis including more attention in the 2024 campaignExperts say the challenges of elder care fly relatively under the radar. “While it’s hard work, it’s also rewarding,” said Joseph Gogler, director of the Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. “This is really a matter of public health import.”

As Flock sees it, “if we look after children, we’re biased if we don’t look after the elderly.”

Bipartisan legislation was reintroduced In January, it will give a tax credit to caregivers paying up to $5,000 in out-of-pocket expenses. Bill, which AARP supportsIt has been introduced five times in Congress since 2016, but has never seen a floor debate.

Sharon Zimmer’s theory was on a proposed proposal before the Harris campaign introduced the new policy idea $500 caregiver tax creditAlso supported by AARP, state lawmakers have considered but failed to pass in recent years. AARP plans to push for its reintroduction in January.

“Every little bit helps,” he said, “but deep down, $500 doesn’t even pay for a pair of glasses.”