Pres. Joe Biden SOTU-2023
President Joe Biden. Credit: Anadolu Agency / Contributor/Getty Images (rights managed)

Providers and aging services advocates praised President Biden for expressing support for home care and family caregivers in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

“The president was right to support the workforce needed to care for older adults who choose to remain in their homes as they age, and to highlight the need to provide relief for millions of family caregivers,” Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, president of the The John A. Hartford Foundation, said in a statement Wednesday.

In his address delivered before Congress, Biden mentioned the need to grow home- and community-based services and give relief to family caregivers.

“Let’s get seniors who want to stay in their homes the care they need to do so,” Biden said. “Give more breathing room to millions of family caregivers looking after their loved ones. Pass my plan so we get seniors and people with disabilities the services they need.” 

With the end of the public health emergency approaching, the government must ensure that older adults, their families and professional caregivers receive the support they need, Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, commented in a statement directly after the speech.

“The president was right to call for help for older adults who want care in their homes, and for millions of family caregivers,” she noted. “Nonprofit and mission-driven aging services providers need policies, waivers and flexibilities that address the chronic shortcomings of our patchwork system and enable older adults to access the help and support they need wherever they call home. And it’s time to address the long waiting lists that keep millions of extremely low-income older adults from ever finding an affordable home.”

Caring Across Generations, an organization that supports the expansion of HCBS, remarked that the president mentioned care priorities more than 10 times in his speech.

“President Biden’s second State of the Union Address affirmed how much this administration values care, both those who need it and those who provide it,” Ai-jenPoo, executive director of Caring Across Generations, said in a statement. “I am thankful we have a president who understands the importance of caregiving and investing in high-quality child care, paid leave, aging and disability care and the direct care workforce. And I applaud the president for highlighting that access to good care is what this country urgently needs right now.” 

Last month, lawmakers reintroduced the Better Care Better Jobs Act, which would expand HCBS. Among its provisions, it would make permanent the 10% increase in Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) to states; provide funding to states to build out HCBS infrastructure; and make permanent the Money Follows the Person demonstration, which supports state efforts to rebalance long-term care support systems.