Chairman Rick Scott Highlights Sandwich Generation Families; Urges Targeted System Reform

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Chairman Rick Scott led a hearing entitled "Caught in the Middle: Supporting Families in the Sandwich Generation" to shine a light on the daily reality facing caregivers who are responsible for both aging parents and young children, making the case for commonsense, targeted reforms to make American families stronger and better off.

Chairman Scott's witnesses for the hearing included:

1. Karla Radka, President & CEO, Senior Resource Alliance, The Area Agency on Aging of Central Florida
2. Meghan Maher, MPH, End-of-Life Doula & Sandwich Generation Caregiver
3. Jason Resendez, President & CEO, National Alliance for Caregiving
4. Josh Protas, Chief Advocacy and Policy Officer, Meals on Wheels America

These expert witnesses discussed their firsthand experiences as both caregivers and resources for caregivers, as well as offered perspective on how policy intervention can best support the sandwich families.

Chairman Scott has been a proud champion of legislative solutions to help family caregivers across the country. Previously, he:

1. Introduced the bipartisan SENIOR Act, which promotes programs that reduce loneliness and strengthen community involvement for older Americans.
2. Led the bipartisan Multigenerational Home Caregiver Credit Act, which creates a $2,000 tax credit for adult family members who live with and provide hands-on care for an aging relative.
3. Supported legislation to assist family caregivers and remove obstacles, including the:
4. 1. Alleviating Barriers for Caregivers Act
   2. Older Americans Act Reauthorization of 2025

Watch Chairman Scott's opening remarks HERE or by clicking the image above.

Read his remarks as prepared for delivery below:

"The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging will now come to order.

Right now, across the country, millions of Americans are being squeezed from both sides. They are raising children, working full-time, and at the same time caring for an aging parent who needs them. I want to thank Senator Kim, he talks about this quite a bit.

We call this group the sandwich generation, and Washington has not done nearly enough to recognize them, support them, or simply even say, "We see you."

The numbers are striking. An estimated 11 million Americans are simultaneously caring for a child and an older adult. Many are doing this while working full-time - but too many find that balance impossible. Most are exhausted, overwhelmed, and doing it all quietly without complaint.

One in five family caregivers has reduced their work hours or left the workforce entirely to provide care. That is not just personal sacrifice - that is lost wages and lost retirement savings that compounds over a lifetime.

The estimated economic value of unpaid family caregiving in this country exceeds $600 billion every year. These are sons, daughters, and spouses who have stepped up because they love someone.

And love doesn't pay the bills. Right now, our tax code, our federal programs, and our social infrastructure haven't kept pace with what these families actually need.

That is why I'm proud to be working on the Multigenerational Home Caregiver Credit Act, which would provide meaningful tax relief to family caregivers who are paying out of pocket to care or both a child and an older relative in their home.

I'm also proud to be a cosponsor of the Alleviating Barriers to Caregiving Act, which takes important steps to provide support and flexibility to family caregivers navigating the complexities of federal programs.

These aren't partisan issues - they're family issues.

And let me say this clearly - we CANNOT talk about supporting family caregivers without talking about the Older Americans Act. The community programs that family caregivers depend on every single day flow through the OAA.

We're talking about everything from meal delivery to respite care and caregiver counseling.

Reauthorization isn't option - it is overdue.

I'd now like to address the sandwich generation caregivers here today and joining us virtually - we hear you. We hear your problems, and we're going try to do something about it.

What you are doing is hard. It is beautiful and exhausting at the same time and it is one of the most important things a person can do in their life.

Today, we want to hear your stories, understand your challenges, and make sure your voices heard as a part of the record that moves this work forward.

And we cannot forget that our focus must also remain on ensuring the resources meant to help our caregivers, and make sure they are protected against bad actors who try to defraud our government.

People can't be working, doing the difficult work of caring for their children and parents, to then get ripped off by government that lets their taxes go to fraudsters.

Fraud doesn't just steal resources from and damage the integrity of good programs - it's bad for the American economy.

First, we saw it in Minneapolis, but we've seen it around the country. Last week we saw new reports from the Daily Wire about massive caregiving fraud happening in Columbus, Ohio.

This country is almost $40 trillion in debt. We need accountability to ensure that every taxpayer dollar meant for caregiving - meant for good people like the witnesses we have before us today and the millions of Americans they represent - is going where it's supposed to go. We have to stop the fraud and hold the perpetrators accountable.

I want to thank all of our witnesses for being here today and for the work they do on behalf of caregivers and the families they support."

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