- GO HERE to help elderly Americans remain in their homes
Polls show about 90 percent of people ages 65+ would prefer to age in their homes rather than moving to an assisted living facility or nursing home. When compared, aging at home is cheaper and more cost effective than living in a nursing home, where room costs can average anywhere from $6,000 to $8,000 a month. The HomesRenewed Coalition, of which NAHC is a part, is fighting to enable elderly Americans to remain in the homes they know and love.
A key to the HomesRenewed Coalition strategy is creating alliances across traditional business sectors to recognize the shared benefit of home updates. Legislative action is one arena, but building bridges to better serve community living Americans is the big picture.
Our initial and most obvious support comes from the product and installer companies that provide home modifications. But here we see that home care sector leadership also recognizes the benefits for their companies and customers. Technology and food delivery are just two more sectors that reap benefits from updated homes where people of all health, age and ability can thrive in the homes they choose.
Nonproft organizations and advocates in affordability, housing, disability, aging and other areas also see the HomesRenewed Coalition drive for tax incentives to update homes as a good, simple idea that prepares the foundation for their agendae.
And bringing these diverse stakeholders to see their shared interests pushes toward the integration and synergy of a comprehensive system for delivering care to homes that we need to solve the housing and health costs crises we face as a nation.
What are the benefits?
- Dignity, joy and choice for older Americans who get to make decisions and have them stick.
- Jobs, business improvement including better client and employee retention.
- More effective and efficent use of scarce caregiver resources.
- Reduced medical costs from reduced falls, shorter rehab stays.
The bipartisan Home Modification for Accessibility Act (HR 7676) empowers Americans to make decisions about where and how they live and provides incentives for shared investments by citizens and the Federal government. It will offset the costs of making home modifications through a penalty-free early retirement withdrawal and lifetime tax deduction of up to $30,000. This will reduce injuries and subsequent medical costs associated with falls, as well as drive development and investment in the market.
This capital investment serves the current resident of the home and remains valuable to future residents. The updated home is not just safer and more accessible but also provides an important platform for all kinds of services and technologies to be deployed into older American homes and lives. As a platfom, the home becomes a better place for providers to serve their customers well, economically, and longer.
We need more cosponsors. Representatives will sign on to this legislation if their constituents ask for their support. We need YOUR help to get more cosponsors.
Please use this quick link to write your elected representatives.
Grow the movement by forwarding this letter to your friends and colleagues. JOIN the coalition!