Study Finds Caregivers Are Struggling Even More During Recession

The ledger

By Fernando QuinteroThe Orlando SentinelORLANDO | Looking back, Tom Brinkmoeller is glad he and his wife took that day in 1969 - two years after they were married - to look at their financial situation.

"We said to ourselves, 'Holy cow!' " recalls Brinkmoeller. "I wasn't doing a very good job at keeping the books, and she took over from there." Forty years later, Linda's financial-planning abilities have been put to the test.

Brinkmoeller left his job as marketing director for Orlando Opera to care full time for Linda after she suffered a stroke in 1999. To pay her medical bills and their other living expenses, they rely on her Social Security disability payments, have dipped into their 401(k) savings and are planning to take out a reverse mortgage on their home in an Orlando suburb.

A study shows family caregivers such as Brinkmoeller are facing increased financial and emotional hardships as they struggle to continue providing care to loved ones with chronic illnesses or disabilities.

The survey, conducted by Evercare, a national care-coordination program of UnitedHealthcare, and the nonprofit National Alliance for Caregiving, reveals that more than 40 percent of caregivers have taken a pay cut or have been forced to work fewer hours as a result of the recession. Fifteen percent of caregivers have lost their jobs as a result of the downturn. And nearly half of all caregivers have exhausted their savings.

Linda's stroke was not the last of the Brinkmoellers' health troubles. Last year, she was diagnosed with breast and ovarian cancer. And four months ago, Tom was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Meanwhile, the economy continued its downward spiral.

Brinkmoeller says all the financial planning in the world wouldn't have helped him prepare for these unexpected turn of events.

"The recession has had a huge impact on caregivers, who represent a $375 billion annual value in the care they provide," said Heidi Wold, executive director of Evercare Florida. "In Florida, they represent $20 million in care costs that would otherwise be passed on to the health-care system."

Nationwide, there are.....read the whole article

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