Vermont's care crisis is hiding in plain sight

[erronis]

https://vtdigger.org/2026/05/06/vermonts-care-crisis-is-hiding-in-plain-sight/
Rustam Sengupta

One in four Vermont adults is already providing unpaid care to an aging family member. Federal cuts are coming, resources are shrinking, and the state has a narrow window to build something better.

This is real and it is happening across the US.

Last month I met Margaret. That's not her real name, but her situation is real. She came to a small community gathering I host around Vermont to facilitate conversations about care and what it means to support each other here.

She is 78 and lives alone in a farmhouse outside Montpelier, a home she has been in for more than 40 years. She does not need a nurse. She needs a neighbor. Someone to drive her to the grocery store, help with housekeeping and maybe share a meal on a Thursday. Her daughter is in Boston. Her son is in Seattle. Margaret is managing for now. But only barely.

There are thousands of Vermonters in Margaret's situation. And the number grows every year.

Vermont is the third-oldest state in the country by median age. Deaths have outpaced births here every year since 2015. The state ranks last nationally for the percentage of residents aged 25 to 44. By 2030, one in three Vermonters will be over 60.

Here is the number that should stop us cold: Vermont has an estimated 118,000 adult family caregivers who together deliver 85 million hours of unpaid care every year, valued at over $2 billion. Not reimbursed. Not supported. Just quietly absorbed by working Vermonters who are already stretched thin. That is one in four Vermont adults right now.

. . .

Much more about the Medicaid cuts and the loss of other funds along with the dire economics in this rural state.

Very scary - not just for Vermont or other rural states, but for almost everyone in this country.

[markie]

1. as a Vermonter

who retired early in order to be an unpaid caregiver.... this is real

[slightlv]

2. Im a Kansan who retired

At 63 because of my autoimmune issues and the unwillingness of the Army DoD to allow even just a couple of days telework... altho all work was done on wifi. Whether at office or home.

My mom had retired a few years prior but with time I could see how much help she really needed. So we moved to within blocks of her house and soon after just moved her in with us, and I became an unpaid caregiver. I wanted no ill will in the family, so we banked her SSA and never took a penny. It was hard work. She was one who grew aggressive and bad mouthed as she aged. There were many nights after I finally got her bedded down I'd go to my bedroom and just cry. It was all so overwhelming.

Kansas got a head start on all the cuts for assistance. Brownback believed the church and God should provide. So, what was there when my grandma needed it was nearly gone when mom needed help. Now that I'm 70 and needing help myself, there is nothing.

To paraphrase Heston, my feelings towards repugs is Damn you to hell. Damn you all to hell!