Gore Pledges Help for Elderly and Their Caregivers

The growing number of elderly Americans and the families that care for them will receive more financial assistance and support from his administration if he is elected president, Vice President Al Gore promised Wednesday.

In a forum with a group of about 150 seniors and caregivers at the Mizell Senior Center in this hot desert town, Gore spoke of the “nearly crushing burden” many Americans face day after day as they care for sick and elderly relatives.

“They are rising to the challenge with sometimes unbelievable stamina and strength,” he said. “But it’s not fair for us to, in this time of the strongest economy in American history . . . , see a situation like this and not reach out and give some help.”

At the event, several caregivers, many of them elderly themselves, spoke emotionally of their weariness in trying to care for their loved ones with few resources.

Margaret Sperling, 81, said she has been taking care of her bedridden husband for 17 years, with only four hours of respite care available every other week to give her a break. Sperling, who has to lift her husband in and out of bed herself, says that her HMO won’t pay for any more assistance.

“We’ve been married 51 years and we don’t want to be apart,” she said. But at the same time, she added, “I’m like a prisoner in my house.”

Gore, who knelt at her chair and sighed deeply as she told her story, said his proposal was put together with people like her in mind.

Under his plan, dubbed the “national caregiving and family support initiative,” Americans of all ages who need long-term care--as well as the friends and family who assist them--would be eligible for a $3,000 annual tax deduction.

The bulk of Gore’s $30-billion, 10-year proposal would go to fund this tax credit, while about $3 billion to $4 billion would finance other parts of the initiative, including money for states to expand the availability of adult day care, respite care and home care services.

Gore also proposed creating a network of “one-stop-shop” resource centers that would provide quality respite care, information about care providers and counseling services. The network would collect information on the best ways to help those with long-term care needs and would have a toll-free number to help elderly Americans locate resources.

Gore’s proposal comes on the heels of a similar initiative he announced Tuesday in New York to help working families find affordable and high-quality child care. Gore, who has curtailed the attacks he was regularly making on his Republican rival, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, has made a series of announcements promoting what he calls his “family agenda.”

About 5 million people, including the elderly, currently need long-term care because of chronic illnesses and disabilities, placing untold work and financial pressures on their family members, his campaign said. Gore said his initiative would be especially critical as the baby boom generation ages, doubling the number of Americans 65 and older by 2030.

Already a strong voting bloc, seniors are going to have even more political clout in coming years. Although they made up 20.3% of the voters in the last presidential election, older voters could make up as much as one-third of the potential voting pool by the mid-2030s, experts say.

At the event, several people pleaded with the vice president to help find more affordable alternatives for long-term health care and prescription drug costs.

Rev. Jeff Rollins, 82, said he cares for his ailing wife with no financial help, spending $10,000 of his own money in the last three years.

“No one gives me a quarter,” he said.

After the event, Gore attended a Democratic National Committee fund-raiser at a Palm Springs hotel hosted by more than 20 leaders of local Native American tribes, raising about $400,000.

In the evening, he attended two more fund-raisers in Los Angeles, including one at the trendy Conga Room hosted by various Latino leaders, among them actor Jimmy Smits, labor leader Miguel Contreras and California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.

Gore aides said late Wednesday that the vice president will announce next week a proposal to safeguard Medicare by putting the payroll taxes that fund the program in an “off-budget” trust fund.

The move would put Medicare in an “iron-clad lock box,” said Gore spokesman Chris Lehane. It will be announced Tuesday as part of the campaign’s emphasis on what can be accomplished with the nation’s robust economy.

Today, Gore is scheduled to unveil efforts to protect personal privacy and Social Security numbers during an appearance at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department training academy in Whittier, aides said.