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By GERARD SHIELDS
Advocate staff writer

Despite retiring at the end of this year, Sen. John Breaux, D-La., continues to press his legislative agenda.

Breaux appeared last week at a National Town Hall Meeting on Family Caregiving. The 32-year congressional veteran supports legislation providing tax credits and allowing caregiving expenses to be deducted on tax returns.

"We want to make it easier and less difficult for families to participate in family caregiving," Breaux said. "It's part of being American that we take care of each other."

Breaux also called for the federal government to provide more training for caregivers. "For millions of people it's a day-to-day question of whether they can continue," Breaux said.

The National Family Caregivers Association, which sponsored the event, says 422,067 people in Louisiana serve as caregivers putting in hours that amount to $3.9 billion worth of care.

Myra Jenkins of Husser in Tangipahoa Parish was a guest speaker. Jenkins has a daughter with cystic fibrosis and a paralyzed husband with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease. Jenkins estimates costs for her daughter's care at $4,000 per month.

"I have to maintain a low income to keep the coverage," Jenkins said.

Insurance premiums on her husband are $500 per month, she said. The family received a personal attendant after waiting three years, Jenkins said.

"I know Congress can't take on everything," she said. "But the red tape wreaks havoc on our mental and physical stability."

Breaux and Jenkins met after the event.

"What you do is very important," Breaux said.