An estimated one-quarter of adults in West Virginia — 375,000 — are caregivers for friends and family members, providing about $3 billion in unpaid care annually, according to the AARP.
They assist with tasks like cooking, feeding, administering medications, paying bills, bathing, chores, transportation, toileting and dressing. Many also work full-time.
And part of their work includes making purchases —including items and services like bed lifts, diapers, medical equipment, wheelchair ramps and health care.
“This essential care comes at a steep cost: caregivers spend an average of $7,200 out of pocket each year, creating significant financial, emotional and physical strain,” Tom Hunter, associate state director of the AARP-WV, said in an email.
A bill to ease some of the financial burden on these caregivers by giving them a tax credit for caregiver expenses is up for consideration this legislative session.
But Sen. Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley, and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, didn’t put it on the committee’s agenda last year, so it may face an uphill battle again this year.
Sen. Laura Chapman, R-Ohio, and the sponsor of a similar measure last year, has proposed the bill, which is supported by both the AARP-WV and the West Virginia chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
“The spirit of it is to keep loved ones within their home for longer, as opposed to sending them to an assisted living center, a nursing facility or a residential care home,” Chapman said.
The bill provides a tax credit for caregivers of people 62 and older for expenses like medical equipment, home modifications or in-home help. They can also use it for payments they’ve made for respite care, adult day care and assistive technology.
The maximum allowable nonrefundable credit is $2,000 or $3,000 for veterans.
Chapman’s 2025 bill passed one committee last year before it was sent to the Senate Finance Committee for review, where Barrett didn’t put it on the agenda.
Barrett said he couldn’t remember why he didn’t place it on the agenda last year, and he wasn’t sure yet if it would make it on his current agenda.
Chapman’s bill was sent directly to the Finance Committee this year, so if it passes out of committee, it will go directly to the full state Senate for a vote. It would then need to pass in the House of Delegates.
Barrett noted it’s still early in the session, and lawmakers in his committee have been focusing on hearing state agency budget requests.
“I understand the premise of the bill, and it’s certainly well-intentioned,” he said.
He said he’ll gauge committee interest in the bill sometime in the next couple weeks.
A similar bill last year also wasn’t taken up by the House Finance Committee, chaired by Del. Vernon Criss, R-Wood.
Criss said he’s not necessarily against a tax credit for caregivers and that his committee didn’t take up that bill last year because they ran out of time.
Chapman said she introduced the bill after witnessing the toll on her mother, who took care of Chapman’s grandmother and great-grandfather.
“I don’t think people quite understand how taxing it is emotionally, physically and financially to care for a loved one in their home, but these caregivers do it out of love,” she said. “They want to make sure that at the end of the family member’s life, they have the ability to live in a home that they feel comfortable in, as opposed to a nursing facility.”
The AARP reports that more than half of family caregivers in a multi-state region including West Virginia have experienced financial hardship, such as taking on debt or being unable to afford basic necessities; and more than 40% report moderate to high rates of emotional stress.
Prior to the legislative session, the AARP-WV surveyed members and found 90% ranked support for family caregivers as the number one concern they should take to lawmakers.
States can also support caregivers by expanding funding for help like respite care, adult day services, home modifications and home delivered meals and offering paid family leave to caregivers.
Chapman said she’d also support measures to expand services like respite care and in-home care.
Those types of care require funding but can keep people out of nursing homes.
Chapman said that for lawmakers concerned about loss in tax revenue to the state, nursing home care paid with Medicaid dollars costs the state more than keeping seniors at their homes.
“As a fiscal conservative, I look at savings as well,” she said.
And, she added, budgets demonstrate what lawmakers view as priorities.
“You can’t be penny-wise and pound-foolish.”
Henry Culvyhouse contributed reporting.