Free Family Caregiving =Walmart Sales$$$

Family caregivers are the ruptured discs on the spine of America’s long-term care system. Why? Well let’s look at the numbers.

It is estimated by AARP that approximately 65.7 million caregivers make up 29% of the U.S. adult population providing care to someone who is ill, disabled or aged. 43.5 million of adult family caregivers care for someone 50+ years of age and 14.9 million care for someone who has Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia

They work unpaid; because this is not caregiving to them- it’s family.

The free loving care they give gift to the GNP is staggering. Family caregiver services were valued at $450 billion per year in 2009- up from $375 billion in year. At $450 billion in 2011, the value of informal unpaid caregiving exceeded the value of paid home care, more than total Medicaid spending in 2009, as much as Wal-Mart sales ($408 billion) , wrap your head around that –and nearly exceeded total expenditures for the Medicaid program in 2009 – all donated for free to the long term care system- which means it’s crumbling.