Clinton's Plan to Help Families Balance their Responsibilities to Parents and Children

Today, Hillary Clinton outlined her agenda to ease the burden on
families that are struggling to balance caring for elderly parents,
spouses and children, while meeting their job obligations.

With a growing elderly population, many working parents are finding
themselves in the "sandwich generation," facing big challenges to
provide care not only as "working parents" but as "working children"
for their own parents as well. In Iowa, over 15 percent of the
population is 65 or older, and the state ranks second among the states
for population above 85.

Out-of-pocket costs for families with long-term caregiving
responsibilities have skyrocketed to $5,531 per year - more than what
most of these families spend on their own health care. Burdened with
both long-term care and child care costs, many caregivers are dipping
into their retirement savings or forgoing health care coverage for
themselves.

Hillary Clinton's comprehensive agenda to help these overburdened
caregivers balance their responsibilities includes:

Improving Nursing Home Quality: Hillary has been working tirelessly to
ensure that our seniors receive the quality care they deserve in
nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Yesterday, she wrote
Michael Leavitt, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human
Services, demanding an investigation into why the Center for Medicare
and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its "special focus facility" list
of 128 sub-standard nursing homes to industry lobbyists but not to the
public.

Hillary has also introduced legislation with her colleague Senator Tom
Harkin to require CMS to publicly release this entire list. She
believes that seniors and their families deserve full, accurate
information on nursing home performance in order to make critical life
decisions about long-term care. She will continue fighting until they
have the information they need.

In addition, Hillary has proposed a comprehensive solution to the
growing challenge of nursing home quality. From 2000 to 2006, we have
seen a 22 percent increase in nursing homes citations for serious
quality deficiencies - those that put residents in 'immediate
jeopardy.' As President, Hillary will:

Triple federal support for nursing home ombudsmen programs to $50
million, to directly improve the accountability and oversight over
long-term care facilities. The increased resources will help the
ombudsmen in Iowa and across the country to vigorously investigate
complaints and tackle new, complex issues in the long term care
industry.

Direct the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to
assist state consumer advocates and prosecutors to tackle persistent
abuses and new challenges in the long-term care industry.

Strengthen our nursing and direct care workforce with a national
system of background checks for long-term care workers and $125
million investment in Workforce Improvement Programs
Require CMS to provide clear, comprehensive data on the Nursing Home
Compare website on 1) up-to-date and accurate nursing home staffing
levels; 2) the full-not just abridged-reports from inspections and
complaint investigations; 3) any and all information about repeat
offenses that CMS compiles; and 4) clear information about the
ownership structures of long-term care facilities-so seniors can know
who is in charge of the facilities they live in.

Helping Families Balance Their Responsibilities to Parents and
Children

Offering A New $3,000 Caregiving Tax Credit: Hillary will offer a new
$3,000 Caregiving Tax Credit to any person with substantial long-term
care needs or to their caregivers. The credit will not require a
complex accounting of out-of-pocket costs, but instead will be
available directly to any individuals with substantial long-term care
needs or their caregivers.

Hillary's new $3,000 Caregivers Tax Credit will benefit at least
50,000 Iowa seniors, people with disabilities and their families.
[CRS, 2007; Census 2007]

Providing A New Long-Term Care Insurance Tax Credit: Hillary will
offer a new tax credit to help those planning for their long-term care
needs afford high-quality insurance policies that are right for them.
This new tax credit will cover 75 percent of long-term care insurance
premiums up to $1,500 per year for qualified long-term care insurance
policies that meet strong new consumer protection requirements.

Hillary's new Long Term Care Insurance Tax Credit will benefit at
least 125,000 Iowan seniors and near-retirees.

Increasing Support for Unpaid Family Caregivers: Hillary understands
that the heroic work of caregiving can take its toll. By providing
temporary relief and counseling for caregivers, we will improve the
quality of life of those they care for. As President, Hillary will
invest an additional $300 million per year in the Lifespan Respite
Caregiver Act and the National Family Caregiver Support Program.

Ensuring Paid Family Leave by 2016: Hillary will set a bold goal of
having paid leave for all American workers by 2016. First, she will
expand the Family Medical Leave Act to cover employers with 25 or more
workers, a change that will provide legal protection for unpaid leave
to 13 million additional workers. Second, Hillary will commit $1
billion per year for a Family Leave Innovation Fund to support the
establishment and expansion of state-level leave programs for new
parents and those caring for their aging parents.

Hillary's Paid Leave Initiative could impact approximately 1.1 million
workers in Iowa (94 percent of all private-sector workers) who do not
have paid family leave. [National Partnership for Women & Families]

Guaranteeing Access to Sick Days for All Americans: Hillary is
proposing to make seven sick days a year - to care for yourself, your
spouse or your children - standard. When people go to work ill or
worry about their sick child or parent, they make other people sick
and they undermine the productivity of their workplaces.

Hillary's sick leave expansion could impact approximately 600,000 Iowa
workers who currently do not have sick days. [National Partnership for
Women & Families]

Stepping Up Support for Child Care: Hillary has worked to expand
access and improve quality of child care in our country for decades.
The Bush Administration has essentially frozen child care funding,
significantly eroding the real purchasing power of child care
subsidies. 150,000 have already lost child care assistance since 2000,
and 300,000 children will lose child care assistance by 2010. Hillary
will increase child care funding through the Child Care and
Development Block Grant and return the program to it's original
intent: to serve working families.
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