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Elizabeth Whisenhunt built a lucrative career in the health care sector — as a clinical educator, nurse and pharmaceuticals rep — before retiring in 2022, a few years shy of her 65th birthday. The reason had nothing to do with her and everything to do with the needs of her mother, whose health was declining.
Over a couple of years, Whisenhunt’s mother, Diane Zonko, 88, faced a series of challenges. Not only was she diagnosed with breast cancer and heart disease (Zonko had a pacemaker implanted for a condition known as second-degree heart block), but she also lost her husband in 2016. Soon after, she moved in with Whisenhunt, who for many years was able to juggle working a full-time job and tending to her mother’s needs.
However, it became apparent that caring for Zonko would be all-encompassing. In 2022, Whisenhunt quit her job as a clinical educator at a health care company to be a stay-at-home caretaker. Although she welcomed the opportunity to help her mother, it hasn’t been easy. “I shop, cook, clean and bathe her,” says Whisenhunt, who lives in Owasso, Oklahoma, a suburb of Tulsa. “This is a full-time job with no pay. I had to start taking out of my retirement to make ends meet.”
One of more than 48 million unpaid family caregivers in the U.S., Whisenhunt spoke out in support of legislation that passed in Oklahoma last year, making it the first state to pass an expansive tax credit for family caregivers. She’ll be watching closely as members of Congress reintroduce the Credit for Caring Act, legislation that would provide a nonrefundable federal tax credit of up to $5,000 for working family caregivers who routinely cut back on their own health care or dip into their savings each year. The bill would help offset a portion of caregiving costs such as home care aides, adult day care, necessary modifications to the home, assistive technology, respite care and transportation. AARP endorses the bill.
“Increasingly, policymakers are recognizing the vital role that family caregivers play in our health care landscape — and the pressing need to give them more support through new laws and policies,” says Nancy LeaMond, AARP executive vice president and chief advocacy and engagement officer. “Without their unpaid work, America’s system of long-term care would fall apart. Many family caregivers make financial sacrifices, spending thousands of dollars out of their own pockets to care for their loved ones.”
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