New York, NY – Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF-Manhattan) today announced that the Governor has signed her bill, the CARE Act (Caregiver Advise, Record and Enable Act, to empower New York’s growing population of family caregivers into law. The bill would allow a patient to designate an official caregiver and would require New York hospitals to provide the designated caregiver with training on at home aftercare.

“We all heave a sigh of relief when a loved one or family member is discharged home from the hospital after an illness of injury, but until now, we haven’t been doing nearly enough to ensure that caregivers are given the tools to provide safe and effective aftercare at home,” said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal. “With this law in place, caregivers will be given support that will help to prevent infection and costly readmission to the hospital.”

Caregivers are often required to administer complicated medication, operate and clean machinery, dress and clean wounds, to name a few. In some cases, caregivers are provided with little more than the discharge plan before being discharged, leaving caregivers daunted and increasing the risks for recovering patients.

Assemblymember Rosenthal partnered with AARP on this bill, which led the advocacy on this legislation. In addition, the bill was supported by the New York State Alzheimer’s Association, Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) and New Yorkers for Patient and Family Empowerment. According to a 2014 survey conducted by AARP, more 92% of all New Yorkers aged 50 and older support this legislation and New Jersey, Oklahoma, Colorado, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Arkansas, New Hampshire, Nevada, New Mexico and Mississippi have all enacted legislation similar to the CARE Act. Connecticut, Illinois and Oregon have similar legislation pending.

According to AARP, currently, more than 2.8 million New Yorkers provide unpaid care to family members at home and 1.6 million adult New Yorkers are discharged home from the hospital.

“With the number of seniors projected to increase dramatically over the next several years, this support will become even more important, as more and more people asked to provide care for their family members and loved ones at home,” said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal.

Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, Chair of the Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, represents the 67th Assembly district, which includes the Upper West Side and parts of the Clinton/ Hell’s Kitchen neighborhoods in Manhattan.