Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin has introduced legislation to develop a national strategy to assist families who care for sick and elderly loved ones. Baldwin says the RAISE Act is designed to help the estimated 43 million family caregivers in the United States.
At a listening session in Wausau, Joanne Kraus-Weith talked about caring for her mother with advanced Alzheimer’s disease.
“She can do nothing for herself. She’s confined to bed. She can smile,” Kraus-Weith said.
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Bill Guenther held back tears while talking about his father who has cancer, and his mother who has Alzheimer’s.
“He’s a very proud man. Won’t let anyone else take care of Mom,” Guenther said.
Afterwards, Baldwin said stories like theirs led to her bill for a national strategy for family caregivers.
“Our society is only going to age further,” she said. “We’ll have more people over the age of 85, the need is going to be even greater. So we’ve got to get our act together around this.”
The RAISE Family Caregivers Act is cosponsored by Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
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