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AARP Announces Priorities for Legislative Session

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The West Virginia AARP announced Thursday a list of things they hope the legislature will consider.

State leaders with the West Virginia AARP were at the capital Wednesday alerting the 82nd legislature of healthcare problems that elderly are dealing with throughout the state. The AARP is fighting to support the 42 million family caregivers in the United States who help make it possible for older Americans and loved ones to live independently. Gaylene Miller is the State Director AARP in West Virginia. She said one of the organization’s top priorities is the Care Act, which could help caregivers interact with hospitals. These caregivers may or may not be related to the person they’re caring for, such as a neighbor, family friend or church member.  

“But they get on the record as the designated caregiver and that allows the hospital to talk to that individual,” Miller said. “Importantly the caregiver would notified of a discharge and probably most importantly that the hospital would be required to provide some hands on demonstrations and some education about the aftercare tasks.”

According to AARP there are more than 300-thousand family caregivers—one of every six West Virginias. These individuals provide an estimated 2.4-billion-dollars in unpaid care for loved ones across the state.