The Georgia Caregivers Act passed unanimously by both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly and does not await Governor Kemp’s signature!
The Georgia Caregivers Act, sponsored in the House by Rep. Lee Hawkins and in the Senate by Sen. Dean Burke, will bring much-needed support to caregivers across the Peach State. AARP Georgia thanks Rep. Hawkins and Senator Burke for their leadership on this important matter.
Family caregivers help their parents, spouses, and other loved ones so they can live independently in their homes and communities—rather than in expensive, taxpayer-funded facilities. They help with meal prep, managing finances, transportation, and more.
Many caregivers also take on medical or nursing tasks for their loved ones, such as complex medication management, wound care, and injections. But most receive little or no training for these important tasks. That’s why AARP Georgia sponsored the Georgia Caregivers Act — a no-cost, sane law that does three things:
The bill takes care of that
(1) Patients can identify a reference person upon admission to the hospital;
(2) the identified caregiver is informed of the plan to discharge the patient home; and
(3) The nurse is instructed and trained live in the medical and nursing tasks to be carried out at home.
In 2021, more than half of Georgian hospitals were fined for excessive readmissions of patients. The Georgia Caregivers Act could help prevent these costly hospital readmissions. The law passed unanimously in the House of Representatives on March 8 and the Senate on April 1, and the AARP is urging Gov. Kemp to sign the law into law.
