AARP ‘Airs’ Caregiver Bills At Capitol
The kupuna advocacy group held live radio interviews with legislators in the Rotunda to raise support for care legislation.
If you happened to walk through the Capitol Rotunda mid-morning on Tuesday, you had to have noticed the tent advertising Kool Gold 107.9, KHVH AM 690 and AARP Hawaii.
Inside the tent radio host Mike Buck interviewed a half dozen lawmakers to help call attention to challenges facing family caregivers.
It was all part of Family Caregiver Awareness Day at the Capitol, an annual event focused on care for the elderly and disabled.
Two key pieces of legislation — House Bill 2252, which would require hospitals to establish caregiving procedures when patients are discharged — and House Bill 1878, which would provide home- and community-based services for seniors — are still moving through the Hawaii Legislature.
Both the CARE Act and the Kupuna Care bill, says AARP boss Barbara Kim Stanton, are “critical components of a fragmented healthcare system that places tremendous pressure on family caregivers as Hawaii’s population ages.”
