Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) recently reintroduced his legislation from 2007, the Caregiver Assistance and Relief Effort (CARE) Act (S 2958/ H.R. 1192).  The bill would provide a tax credit to those caring for a family member with long-term care needs; the credit would start at $2,500 in 2010, with a reduction of $100 for every $1,000 the taxpayer earns over $75,000.  The credit would increase to $2,750 in 2011 and $3,000 in 2012.  In addition, the bill would increase funding for the National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) to $250 million in FY 2011, up from $154 million in FY 2010. It would also allow a tax deduction for long-term care insurance premiums and apply certain consumer protection provisions to long-term care insurance contracts. For more information, visit:

The MetLife Mature Market Institute with the National Alliance for Caregiving in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh Institute of Aging recently released a report, MetLife Study of Working Caregivers and Employer Health Care Costs. The report reveals that working caregivers, who tend to experience more health problems than non-caregivers, cost employers an estimated average of an additional 8% in health care expenses per year, or $13.4 billion annually.  The report also found that younger caregivers (ages 18 to 39) cost their employers 11% more for health care than non-caregivers, while male caregivers cost an additional 18%. The report suggest employers provide integrated wellness and eldercare programs for employees.  For more information, visit:

An article in the January 2010 issue Annals of Long-Term Care (Volume 18, Number 1) discusses "Health Literacy as a Tool to Improve the Public Understanding of Alzheimer's Disease."  The article by Dr. Fred Kobylarz and colleagues briefly describes the concept of health literacy, including the impact of age on literacy, and suggests generally applicable strategies for lowering health literacy barriers among patients facing dementia in clinical practice.  For more information, visit:

The 2010 International Conference on Aging in the Americas will be held September 15-17, 2010 at the University of Texas at Austin.  It is the fourth installment of a conference series where the objective is to develop consensus on the best means of ensuring healthful aging of individuals of Mexican ancestry in the U.S.  The Conference will focus on issues of disability, caregiving, and long-term care policy. For more information, visit:

An article in Utah's Deseret News highlights the important role geriatric care managers can play for caregiving families.  The profession has boomed in the last couple of decades as adult children caregivers increasingly live far from their aging parents and need help making decisions about providing care.  The article describes how care managers work with and provide assistance to family caregivers and care recipients, and it offers advice for how to find a care manager.  For more information, visit: