What is the Essential Caregivers Act?

• The Essential Caregivers Act allows essential caregivers access to long-term facilities to provide care and support to a facility resident during any public health emergency.

Why do we need the Essential Caregivers Act?

• For more than a year, residents in long-term care facilities were separated from their loved ones – far too many lost their will to survive, and many others have suffered untold emotional, psychological, and physical pain as a result of this separation.

• This bill will ensure that in any future public health emergency under Section 319, designated Essential Caregivers are always able to access their loved ones in a manner consistent with all applicable health and safety protocols.

• It is vital that we as a society recognize the critical role that family members and caregivers play in the support and wellbeing of residents in long-term care facilities.

What is an Essential Caregiver?

• An Essential Caregiver is defined in this bill as an individual who provides direct care consisting of activities of daily living, emotional support, or companionship to a resident, and is chosen by the resident.

Don’t protections already exist for residents? Why do we need a new law?

• Under current law, residents in long-term care facilities have the right to receive an unlimited number of visitors and caregivers for an unrestricted amount of time.

• However, this pandemic exposed a loophole in federal law and civil rights protections that allowed these rights to be waived indefinitely during a public health emergency. The result was millions of long-term care residents having their rights taken away overnight.

• This bill safeguards a resident’s civil rights and rights under federal law, while taking into account public health concerns. For example, it limits access to designated caregivers (as opposed to all visitors), allows residents to designate only two caregivers, and restricts their access period from 24 hours to 12 hours during a public health emergency.

What are the safety protocols caregivers have to follow?

• The safety and wellbeing of residents and staff in long-term facilities is always a priority. That is why this bill requires Essential Caregivers to follow the exact same safety protocols as facility staff, which must be clearly articulated to all parties in writing.

• Eligibility to participate as an Essential Caregiver is contingent upon an individual’s strict compliance with all facility safety and health standards.

• Rather than a one-size-fits all approach to health and safety that may fail to take into account specific and varied conditions from one facility to another, this legislation ensures facilities have the ability to set their own standards that caregivers must follow.

What if I am denied access?

• This bill establishes a complaint review process, overseen at the federal level, to receive and process complaints regarding administration of the Essential Caregiver program.

• This will ensure program oversight for families, residents, caregivers, facilities, and staff.

Who supports the E.C.A.?

• The E.C.A. is a bipartisan bill drafted with the input of a wide range of stakeholders.

House Sponsors:
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY-22)
Rep. John B. Larson (D-CT-01)

Current House Cosponsors:
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21)
Rep. John Rutherford (R-FL-04)
Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-NM-02)
Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC-11)
Rep. Abigail Davis Spanberger (D-VA-07)
Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC-13)
Rep. Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ-02)
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09)
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY-01)
Rep. John Katko (R-NY-24)
Rep. Chris Jacobs (R-NY-27)
Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX-05)
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-05)
Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT-2)
Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL-13)
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA-42)
Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL-18)
Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY-2)
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC-2)
Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT-4)
Rep. Scott Franklin (R-FL-15)
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA-50)
Rep. Daniel Meuser (R-PA-9)
Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL-26)
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY-11)
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA-3)
Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT-3)
Rep. James A. Himes (D-CT-4)
Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT-5)
Rep. Billy Long (R-MO-7)
Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD-At Large)
Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R—FL-27)
Rep. Brian J. Mast (R-FL-18)
Rep. Kathy E. Manning (D-NC-6)
Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA-8)
Rep. Deborah K. Ross (D-NC-2)
Rep. Brian K. FItzpatrick (R-PA-1)
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE-2)
Rep. French J. Hill (R-AR-2)
Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN-8)
Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN-6)
Rep. Mike Carey (R-OH-15)
Rep. Salud O. Carbajal (D-CA-24)
Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE-3)
Rep. Elaine G. Luria (D-VA-2)
Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA-1)
Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-1)
Rep Lori Trahan (D-MA-3)
Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA-32)
Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-AZ-4)
Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI-2)
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL-14)
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN-3)
Rep. Scott H. Peters (D-CA-52)
Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA-31)
Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA-7)
Rep. Robert J. Wittman (R-VA-1)
Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA-5)
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA-40)
Rep. John Joyce (R-PA-1)
Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA-15)
Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH-1)
Rep. Young Kim (R-CA-39)
Rep. G. K. Butterfield (D-NC-1)
Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO-6)
Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV-3)
Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA-34)
Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-RI-1)
Rep. Jared F. Golden (D-ME-2)
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA-17)
Rep. Eric A. “Rick” Crawford (R-AR-1)
Rep. Daniel T. Kildee (D-MI-5)
Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ-11)
Rep. Andrew S. Clyde (R-GA-9)
Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ-3)
Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO-2)
Rep. Ann M. Kuster (D-NH-2)
Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL-9)
Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA-27)

Supporting Organizations:
Advocates for COVID Nursing Home Residents
California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform
Caregivers for Compromise - Because Isolation Kills, Too! (national and all state chapters)
Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of Elders (CARIE - Pennsylvania)
Center for Estate Administration Reform
Center for Medicare Advocacy
Dementia Society of America
Dignity Alliance Massachusetts
Dignity for the Aged
Elder Justice Committee of Metro Justice
Essential Caregivers Coalition (national and all state chapters)
FACE NJ
Florida Health Justice Project
Gray Panthers
The Green House Project and Pioneer Network
Long Term Care Community Coalition
The Michael J. Fox Foundation
National Association of Activity Professionals
National Association of Mental Illness (NAMI)
National Association of State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs (NASOP)
The National Consumer Voice for Long Term Quality Care
North Carolina Friends of Residents in Long Term Care
North Dakota Advocacy for Long-Term Care
Our Mother’s Voice
Voices for Seniors
VOYCE of Missouri

Supporting Individuals:
Louise Aronson, MD, Geriatrician, Professor of Medicine, and author of "Elderhood"
Michael Wasserman, MD, Geriatrician, Past President of the California Association of Long Term Care Medicine
Sonya Barsness, MSG, Gerontologist, Sonya Barsness Consulting LLC

How can I help support this bill?
Look up your US Representative and send an email telling them to co-sponsor the Essential Caregivers Act.