Lauraswanson0, I agree with cwillie's post.... I would recommend that you draw up an Employment Contract showing how many hours per week you would work, the pay per hour, and the list of things you are doing for your Dad. If Dad is able, have him sign this Contract. Or have whomever is Dad's financial Power of Attorney, if Dad cannot sign.
The reason for a Contract is in case later down the road your Dad needs Medicaid [different from Medicare]. Medicaid will pay for his room/board and care in a nursing home if he qualifies.
Medicaid will look at Dad's financial background to see how his money has been spent over the previous 5 years. Medicaid will see payment to you, thus having a contract will show that Dad didn't gift you the money.
You may want to check on your State law as to how many hours a caregiver can work during the week. If you over-pay yourself, thus paying yourself 3-shifts per days, that may raise a red flag with Medicaid.
First, get a proper care contract drawn up, you will need this if he ever needs to apply for medicaid some day. I think in general most family caregivers base their compensation on a weekly or monthly basis, not per hour. Do some research to find out what an outside caregiver in your area would be getting for what you do. You can only charge for 24/7 care if that is what he actually needs, so if he could live on his own with a certain number of hours of paid help you need to take that into consideration.
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The reason for a Contract is in case later down the road your Dad needs Medicaid [different from Medicare]. Medicaid will pay for his room/board and care in a nursing home if he qualifies.
Medicaid will look at Dad's financial background to see how his money has been spent over the previous 5 years. Medicaid will see payment to you, thus having a contract will show that Dad didn't gift you the money.
You may want to check on your State law as to how many hours a caregiver can work during the week. If you over-pay yourself, thus paying yourself 3-shifts per days, that may raise a red flag with Medicaid.
I think in general most family caregivers base their compensation on a weekly or monthly basis, not per hour. Do some research to find out what an outside caregiver in your area would be getting for what you do. You can only charge for 24/7 care if that is what he actually needs, so if he could live on his own with a certain number of hours of paid help you need to take that into consideration.
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