Vermont Ways & Means hears testimony on S.51 unpaid caregiver tax credit

The House Ways & Means Committee heard extended testimony on S.51, the Vermont Unpaid Caregiver Tax Credit, on Wednesday, April 16, with advocates urging lawmakers to clarify eligibility rules and keep the application simple to reach caregivers who would benefit most.

Advocates framed unpaid family caregivers as a critical but strained component of Vermont's long-term care system. Meg Polite, policy director for the Vermont chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, told the committee that dementia caregivers face greater time and financial burdens than other caregivers and that the bill would provide tangible recognition and relief. "S51 is just a really tangible way to provide the the much, much needed recognition to unpaid caregivers and slightly alleviate the overwhelming financial burden," Polite said.

Polite summarized data from the Vermont Department of Health and other sources in her written testimony: she said about 12,800 Vermonters were diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2020 (a figure her testimony notes as a conservative count because about half of people with dementia are undiagnosed), and that last year roughly 20,000 Vermonters provided about 29,000,000 hours of unpaid dementia-related care valued at about…