Issue Position: Help Kupuna Remain at Home.

Issue Position

Our culture means we care about, and care for, our kupuna. Of those over 65, 90% prefer staying home to receive care rather than moving to a facility. Family members here are dedicated caregivers, but providing that care creates financial and emotional stress.

We must support home caregiving to help seniors who want to stay at home with their families. The AARP estimates there are 154,000 caregivers in the state. Hawaii's Kupuna Caregivers Program assists family caregivers who work outside the home by providing $70/day benefits for home health care workers, extra help preparing meals, and adult day care costs.

The program helps family caregivers remain employed, even as they support their kupuna with the quality care family members are best able to offer. That means in the long run, the program saves the state money. Yet the program remains embarrassingly underfunded. According to the Office on Aging, it is currently supporting only 38 Oahu caregivers, 68 statewide. Even if funding increases this year, as proposed, the total served in Hawai'i rises by just another 124.

Supporting elder care at the level needed requires much more money. If elected, Sharon pledges to help thousands of Oahu kupuna remain at home by drawing on Tobacco Enforcement Special Funds that brought $784 million to our state through 2016, with payments of around $50 million continuing annually. Tobacco tax collections have added another $100 million-plus a year since 2007, reaching $116 million in 2016. An audit of the Department of Health shows that department "appropriates 100% of the funds to other State agencies and other entities" (p. 41), with only $6.6 million going to tobacco prevention and cessation funding. Tobacco settlement money and taxes also helped fund construction of the completed UH Cancer Center in Kakaako.

Sharon strongly believes tobacco funds should go to health-related programs, including supporting our kupuna caregivers.

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