Biden Whitehouse Issues Executive Order to Increase Access to Care and to Support Caregivers

On April 18, 2023, the Biden Whitehouse issued an Executive Order on Increasing Access to High-Quality Care and Supporting Caregivers. The EO directs actions to improve job quality for the professionals who provide the critical services that make community living possible for millions of people. It includes actions to improve support for the 53 million family caregivers who provide the overwhelming majority of long-term support to older adults and people with disabilities. It also directs actions to expand availability of home and community-based services, including those funded by Medicaid and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

A separate Fact Sheet states: “Without adequate resources, family caregiving can affect caregivers’ physical and emotional health and well-being and contribute to financial strain. These negative consequences are felt most acutely by women, who make up nearly two-thirds of family caregivers and who drop out of the workforce at higher rates than men. To provide greater support to family caregivers, the Executive Order directs HHS to consider testing a new dementia care model that will include support for respite care (short-term help to give a primary family caregiver a break) and make it easier for family caregivers to access Medicare beneficiary information and provide more support to family caregivers during the hospital discharge planning process. Additionally, VA will consider expanding access to the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers and provide more mental health support for caregivers enrolled in that program. These actions build on the 2022 National Strategy to Support Caregivers.”