Caregiving Under the Microscope: The "Caregiver Gap" - Why Colorado and America Can't Afford to Wait

By Mark Fukae, Director of Advocacy for Professionals Who Care

A Series by Professionals Who Care

Welcome back to "Under the Microscope," where we delve into the critical issues impacting employed caregivers and the policy changes needed to create truly inclusive workplaces.

Today, I want to share a piece of my own reality that drives the urgency of my work as Director of Advocacy for Professionals Who Care, a 501(c)(3) focused on advocating for the over 32 million working professionals who manage dual roles as caregivers across America. This is also a deeply personal mission for me as a Colorado resident, driving my advocacy for both the Colorado CARE Act and the broader national push for the Federal CARE Act.

My mother, a vibrant woman who has lived with my family for over 14 years, was diagnosed with Dementia in 2019. She's now in her end-stage, her short-term memory resetting within 30 seconds, leading to a constant, heart-wrenching loop of the same questions. There are moments when I put her down for a nap, exhausted as she is, only for her to get up four or five times within minutes, asking the same question, making the same statement – simply stating she's tired, even as her own aches and pains in her joints wear her down. Each time, I gently escort her back to bed, kindness masking the frustration and the deep heartbreak I feel as I see her struggle. It's a reality shared by hundreds of thousands across my home state of Colorado, and millions more across our nation.

This deeply personal experience, multiplied by countless families across Colorado and the U.S., underscores a stark truth: caregiving is a fundamental human experience, deeply intertwined with the health and well-being of our society. It shapes how we nurture our families, tend to the ill, and support our elderly and disabled loved ones. In Colorado, over 600,000 Coloradans serve as informal, unpaid caregivers, forming the essential backbone of our state's long-term care system, providing an immense economic value estimated at $8 billion annually. Nationally, the economic value of unpaid care provided by family caregivers was estimated at a staggering $600 billion in 2021.

However, this invisible workforce, including people like me, is facing a looming crisis – one that poses a fundamental threat to our long-term care infrastructure and public finances, both here in Colorado and nationwide. It’s what we at Professionals Who Care call the "Caregiver Gap."

The Looming Caregiver Gap: A Stark Reality for Colorado and America

Colorado's population aged 65 and older is projected to increase by a staggering 37% by 2030. This demographic shift means significantly more Coloradans will require care and support in the coming years. Yet, here’s the critical imbalance: the number of unpaid caregivers in Colorado is projected to increase by only 18% over the next decade.

This disparity isn't just a minor statistical anomaly; it’s a critical imbalance that will result in an estimated 115,000-person caregiver gap in Colorado by 2030. This mirrors a national trend where the number of older adults requiring care could nearly double from 8 million in 2000 to 19 million by 2050, putting immense strain on care systems everywhere.

Think about that for a moment: 115,000 people in Colorado alone who will need care, but without enough unpaid family caregivers to provide it. And this crisis is escalating across the entire country.

Why This Gap is a Systemic Risk, Exacerbated by Federal Actions

The current informal care system, while providing the majority of care and substantial economic value, is simply unsustainable under these growing demographic pressures. If our informal caregiving networks falter – if caregivers are forced to leave the workforce, burn out (like I sometimes feel), or can no longer provide care – the burden will inevitably shift. And where will it shift? To more expensive formal care services or public assistance programs.

This impending crisis is being made even more precarious by federal actions already underway. The U.S. House has recently passed legislation that could significantly cut benefits to programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This now sends a clear signal, and the ripple effect, as the Senate considers these measures, on Colorado's most vulnerable populations, and on our state and national budgets, would be devastating.

This means:

• Increased reliance on costly public assistance, intensified by federal cuts: When caregivers can no longer provide care, or their financial stability erodes due to caregiving responsibilities, they or their loved ones often turn to vital safety nets like Medicaid and SNAP. Proposed federal cuts to these programs would mean that even fewer resources are available for those in desperate need. For Colorado, this could translate to hundreds of thousands of Coloradans losing health coverage, significant state budget deficits (potentially billions annually), and increased administrative burdens for the state to manage new work requirements and eligibility checks. Nationally, such cuts would devastate families and local economies, increasing poverty and reducing overall well-being.

• Overwhelmed long-term care infrastructure: Our formal long-term care system is already strained, both in Colorado and across the U.S. If the vital contributions of unpaid caregivers diminish, we will see a surge in emergency room utilization, hospitalizations, and longer hospital stays. The existing direct care workforce is already insufficient, plagued by high staff turnover and recruitment difficulties. Without informal caregivers, this system faces an imminent threat of being overwhelmed. Federal cuts to Medicaid, particularly those impacting home and community-based services (HCBS), would further exacerbate this, potentially pushing more individuals into higher-cost institutional care or leaving family caregivers entirely unsupported.

• A "False Economy" for the State and Nation: By not proactively supporting informal caregivers, Colorado, and indeed the entire nation, inadvertently pushes them towards financial instability. This leads to higher public assistance costs and lower tax receipts from a reduced workforce. It's a direct financial disincentive for the state and federal government to maintain the status quo. Furthermore, federal cuts to programs like SNAP, which have a significant economic multiplier effect (generating over $1.50 in economic activity for every dollar spent), would not only leave families without food but also cost states jobs and tax revenue. Reports indicate that deep Medicaid and SNAP cuts could cost Colorado's economy thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions in lost state and local taxes, a pattern that would be replicated nationwide.

The Colorado CARE Act and the Federal CARE Act: Strategic Investments, Not Just Programs

The Colorado CARE Act, a key initiative for me as a Colorado resident, is precisely designed to address this escalating crisis head-on within our state. It is not merely an expenditure or a social program; it is a strategic and necessary investment to prevent the collapse of this vital, unpaid care system and its cascading economic and social consequences, which are only amplified by proposed federal policy changes.

This is why Professionals Who Care is also advocating for a Federal CARE Act, modeled after the comprehensive and fiscally responsible approach of the Colorado CARE Act. This federal legislation would seek to create crucial protections by amending Article 42 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). By establishing a national framework for caregiver accommodations and support, we can ensure that working professionals who are caregivers across the country receive the recognition, flexibility, and resources they desperately need to continue their invaluable contributions to their families, workplaces, and communities.

By providing targeted support to caregivers, both state and federal CARE Acts aim to:

• Stabilize our workforce: Keeping caregivers in their jobs means greater productivity and reduced turnover for businesses nationwide, helping to offset the economic drain from caregiver-related absenteeism and lost productivity.

• Strengthen families: Supporting caregivers reduces their financial and health burdens, allowing them to provide care more sustainably and reducing their reliance on stretched public assistance programs.

• Ensure our nation's long-term capacity to care: By bolstering informal care, we reduce the strain on our formal care systems, ensuring compassionate and effective care for our aging and vulnerable populations for years to come, especially as federal support for these systems may diminish.

The "Caregiver Gap" is not a distant problem; it is here, and it is growing. As I continue to navigate the heartbreaking realities of my mother's journey, compounded by the uncertainty of federal support for programs that so many rely on, I know that the Colorado CARE Act and the proposed Federal CARE Act are our opportunities to act now, to safeguard our state's and our nation's future prosperity, social cohesion, and capacity to care for its most vulnerable.

Join the Movement – Your Voice Matters!

The urgency of the Colorado CARE Act and the Federal CARE Act cannot be overstated. These are investments in every Coloradan and every American, ensuring a more resilient and compassionate future for generations to come.

Join us at Professionals Who Care and become part of the movement for change. Follow our page and engage with our content. Your support is crucial for our advocacy efforts.

Please also sign my petition on Change.org to show your support for legislative change: Empower Working Caregivers: Enact Federal & Colorado CARE Act to Amend ADA & CADA

Finally, please share this article widely with your network. The more people who understand the "Caregiver Gap" and the solution the Colorado and Federal CARE Acts provide, the stronger our collective voice will be.

Kindly,

Mark Fukae Director of Advocacy | Professionals Who Care