Mar 27, 2001 - 07:14 PM

Senate Plan Would Give Tax Breaks for Elder Care By Anjetta McQueen Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - For six years, Bill Kays fed, bathed and nursed his wife, Pearl. Then the Vienna, Va., man had to put her in a nursing home at a cost of $1,700 a month. In a nation where 37 million people care for sick and aging relatives each year, Kays told Congress Tuesday, he's one of the lucky ones.

"We are just barely able to afford her care," said Kays, a phone company retiree whose wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease 10 years ago.

Kays told the Senate Finance Committee that other people have to "spend themselves into poverty" to get government aid. The committee Tuesday introduced a plan to give families tax breaks for buying their own insurance for long-term nursing care.

"It would be a tremendous help," Kays said. "But we are going to have to do a lot more."

Nursing home care costs an average of $55,000 a year, but 80 percent of the people who need that level of help are in their own homes, being cared for by family members, professional nurses or community groups, health experts told the panel.

The Senate tax-credit plan is aimed at getting Americans to rely more on private insurance to pay those bills. The plan would let taxpayers deduct the full cost of long-term-care insurance premiums, which can cost about $1,000 a year for a 65-year-old policyholder and twice as much for an 80-year-old. The bill also gives a $3,000 tax credit to sick individuals or their caregivers.

The tax bill's supporters, who include older people's organizations and insurance industry groups, say it will help ailing seniors afford better care. The extra help will be needed as the over-65 population increases.

"With millions of baby boomers set to retire in the future, it's critical that Congress be prepared," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. "An aging nation has no time to waste in preparing for long-term care."

Medicaid pays for nearly half the nation's $133.8 billion long-term care bill, but families pay about 25 percent of that out of their own pockets, said Carol V. O'Shaughnessy, a Congressional social policy researcher.

Gail Gibson Hunt, executive director of the National Alliance for Caregiving, a Bethesda, Md.-based group, said younger Americans often sacrifice their own earnings to care for ailing family members.

"Without family caregivers, the long-term care system would bankrupt the country," Hunt said.

Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., a supporter of the bipartisan plan, said, "It can supplement the wages of children who miss work to care for their parents."

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Senate Finance Committee: http://finance.senate.gov/

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-- Anonymous, March 27, 2001