[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 154 (Tuesday, September 26, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6139-S6140]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 1101. Mr. CORNYN (for Ms. Collins) proposed an amendment to the
bill S. 1028, to provide for the establishment and maintenance of a
Family Caregiving Strategy, and for other purposes; as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Recognize, Assist, Include,
Support, and Engage Family Caregivers Act of 2017'' or the
``RAISE Family Caregivers Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Advisory council.--The term ``Advisory Council'' means
the Family Caregiving Advisory Council convened under section
4.
(2) Family caregiver.--The term ``family caregiver'' means
an adult family member or other individual who has a
significant relationship with, and who provides a broad range
of assistance to, an individual with a chronic or other
health condition, disability, or functional limitation.
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Health and Human Services.
(4) Strategy.--The term ``Strategy'' means the Family
Caregiving Strategy set forth under section 3.
SEC. 3. FAMILY CAREGIVING STRATEGY.
(a) In General.--The Secretary, in consultation with the
heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, shall develop
jointly with the Advisory Council and submit to the Committee
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Special
Committee on Aging of the Senate, the Committee on Education
and the Workforce of the House of Representatives, and the
State agencies responsible for carrying out family caregiver
programs, and make publically available on the internet
website of the Department of Health and Human Services, a
Family Caregiving Strategy.
(b) Contents.--The Strategy shall identify recommended
actions that Federal (under existing Federal programs),
State, and local governments, communities, health care
providers, long-term services and supports providers, and
others are taking, or may take, to recognize and support
family caregivers in a manner that reflects their diverse
needs, including with respect to the following:
(1) Promoting greater adoption of person- and family-
centered care in all health and long-term services and
supports settings, with the person receiving services and
supports and the family caregiver (as appropriate) at the
center of care teams.
(2) Assessment and service planning (including care
transitions and coordination) involving family caregivers and
care recipients.
(3) Information, education and training supports, referral,
and care coordination, including with respect to hospice
care, palliative care, and advance planning services.
(4) Respite options.
(5) Financial security and workplace issues.
(6) Delivering services based on the performance, mission,
and purpose of a program while eliminating redundancies.
(c) Duties of the Secretary.--The Secretary (or the
Secretary's designee), in carrying out subsection (a), shall
oversee the following:
(1) Collecting and making publicly available information,
submitted by the Advisory Council under section 4(d) to the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the
Special Committee on Aging of the Senate, the Committee on
Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives,
and the State agencies responsible for carrying out family
caregiver programs, and made publically available by the
Secretary, including evidence-based or promising practices
and innovative models (both domestic and foreign) regarding
the provision of care by family caregivers or support for
family caregivers.
(2) Coordinating and assessing existing Federal Government
programs and activities to recognize and support family
caregivers while ensuring maximum effectiveness and avoiding
unnecessary duplication.
(3) Providing technical assistance, as appropriate, such as
disseminating identified best practices and information
sharing based on reports provided under section 4(d), to
State or local efforts to support family caregivers.
(d) Initial Strategy; Updates.--The Secretary shall--
(1) not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of
this Act, develop, publish, and submit to the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Special
Committee on Aging of the Senate, the Committee on Education
and the Workforce of the House of Representatives, and the
State agencies responsible for carrying out family caregiver
programs, an initial Strategy incorporating the items
addressed in the Advisory Council's initial report under
section 4(d) and other relevant information, including best
practices, for recognizing and supporting family caregivers;
and
(2) biennially update, republish, and submit to the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the
Special Committee on Aging of the Senate, the Committee on
Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives,
and the State agencies responsible for carrying out family
caregiver programs the Strategy, taking into account the most
recent annual report submitted under section 4(d)(1)--
(A) to reflect new developments, challenges, opportunities,
and solutions; and
(B) to review progress based on recommendations for
recognizing and supporting family caregivers in the Strategy
and, based on the results of such review, recommend priority
actions for improving the implementation of such
recommendations, as appropriate.
(e) Process for Public Input.--The Secretary shall
establish a process for public input to inform the
development of, and updates to, the Strategy, including a
process for the public to submit recommendations to the
Advisory Council and an opportunity for public comment on the
proposed Strategy.
(f) No Preemption.--Nothing in this Act preempts any
authority of a State or local government to recognize or
support family caregivers.
(g) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to permit the Secretary (through regulation,
guidance, grant criteria, or otherwise) to--
(1) mandate, direct, or control the allocation of State or
local resources;
(2) mandate the use of any of the best practices identified
in the reports required under this Act; or
[[Page S6140]]
(3) otherwise expand the authority of the Secretary beyond
that expressly provided to the Secretary in this Act.
SEC. 4. FAMILY CAREGIVING ADVISORY COUNCIL.
(a) Convening.--The Secretary shall convene a Family
Caregiving Advisory Council to advise and provide
recommendations, including identified best practices, to the
Secretary on recognizing and supporting family caregivers.
(b) Membership.--
(1) In general.--The members of the Advisory Council shall
consist of--
(A) the appointed members under paragraph (2); and
(B) the Federal members under paragraph (3).
(2) Appointed members.--In addition to the Federal members
under paragraph (3), the Secretary shall appoint not more
than 15 voting members of the Advisory Council who are not
representatives of Federal departments or agencies and who
shall include at least one representative of each of the
following:
(A) Family caregivers.
(B) Older adults with long-term services and supports
needs.
(C) Individuals with disabilities.
(D) Health care and social service providers.
(E) Long-term services and supports providers.
(F) Employers.
(G) Paraprofessional workers.
(H) State and local officials.
(I) Accreditation bodies.
(J) Veterans.
(K) As appropriate, other experts and advocacy
organizations engaged in family caregiving.
(3) Federal members.--The Federal members of the Advisory
Council, who shall be nonvoting members, shall consist of the
following:
(A) The Administrator of the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services (or the Administrator's designee).
(B) The Administrator of the Administration for Community
Living (or the Administrator's designee who has experience in
both aging and disability).
(C) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs (or the Secretary's
designee).
(D) The heads of other Federal departments or agencies (or
their designees), including relevant departments or agencies
that oversee labor and workforce, economic, government
financial policies, community service, and other impacted
populations, as appointed by the Secretary or the Chair of
the Advisory Council.
(4) Diverse representation.--The Secretary shall ensure
that the membership of the Advisory Council reflects the
diversity of family caregivers and individuals receiving
services and supports.
(c) Meetings.--The Advisory Council shall meet quarterly
during the 1-year period beginning on the date of enactment
of this Act and at least three times during each year
thereafter. Meetings of the Advisory Council shall be open to
the public.
(d) Advisory Council Annual Reports.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 12 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Advisory
Council shall submit to the Secretary, the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Special
Committee on Aging of the Senate, the Committee on Education
and the Workforce of the House of Representatives, and the
State agencies responsible for carrying out family caregiver
programs, and make publically available on the internet
website of the Department of Health and Human Services, a
report concerning the development, maintenance, and updating
of the Strategy, including a description of the outcomes of
the recommendations and any priorities included in the
initial report pursuant to paragraph (2), as appropriate.
(2) Initial report.--The Advisory Council's initial report
under paragraph (1) shall include--
(A) an inventory and assessment of all federally funded
efforts to recognize and support family caregivers and the
outcomes of such efforts, including analyses of the extent to
which federally funded efforts are reaching family caregivers
and gaps in such efforts;
(B) recommendations--
(i) to improve and better coordinate Federal programs and
activities to recognize and support family caregivers, as
well as opportunities to improve the coordination of such
Federal programs and activities with State programs; and
(ii) to effectively deliver services based on the
performance, mission, and purpose of a program while
eliminating redundancies, avoiding unnecessary duplication
and overlap, and ensuring the needs of family caregivers are
met;
(C) the identification of challenges faced by family
caregivers, including financial, health, and other
challenges, and existing approaches to address such
challenges; and
(D) an evaluation of how family caregiving impacts the
Medicare program, the Medicaid program, and other Federal
programs.
(e) Nonapplicability of FACA.--The Federal Advisory
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Advisory
Council.
SEC. 5. FUNDING.
No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this Act. This Act shall be carried out using funds
otherwise authorized. .
SEC. 6. SUNSET PROVISION.
The authority and obligations established by this Act shall
terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date of
enactment of this Act.
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