Care giver hours: Is this appropriate?

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Denny17 Asked August 29, 2025

Care giver hours: Is this appropriate?

My mom has 24hour care on an NHTD Medicaid program in NY State. When we first started with this program we had 4 aides. One for Mon-Fri days. One for Sat-Sun days. Two aides that split a 14-hr overnight shift. The weekend aide left and now the agency is insisting that one of the night aides also cover the weekends. They won’t budge on this. This means that one aide is working 76 hours per week, with 36 hours of overtime. To me, it seems like an excessive amount of hours for one person. Is this common practice or is something amiss? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you.

Home Care Medicaid Paying for Care Working Caregiver

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score 0 · Answer 1

Place a ad Nextdoor .com and see if you can find someone to cover the weekend shifts privately .

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score 0 · Answer 2

You probably do need someone for the weekend But hire someone Outside the agency that you don't Hav to Pay Overtime . When My Friend was a caregiver he hired a woman Locally that covered the weekends for him.

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score 1 · Answer 3

Thank you for explaining this.

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score 2 · Answer 4

I would contact Moms Medicaid caseworker and run this by them.

I know with my daughter an RN, that they can only work so many hours by State law. Something about 16 hours, which is a double. The agency may want to do this but it may not be legal. I am surprised that your Medicaid allows 24/7 care in the home. Do you have a shortage of LTC facilities where you live? My cousin could only get 8 hrs a day in our State.

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Thanks for your response. She is on an NHTD waiver program which is explained in another reply. She was on a Long term care plan (MLTC) and I fought for 2 years to get more hours, but they wouldn’t allow. They suggested trying the NHTD program. That wasn’t an easy task either, it took 11 months to get it all in place. But now we have 24 hours. Now I’m struggling to find the right aides and trying to figure out this hours issue.

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score 1 · Answer 5

You’re right to question this — 76 hours a week is a lot for one person, especially in such a demanding role. Burnout and mistakes can happen when an aide is stretched that thin, and your mom deserves fresh, alert care. Agencies sometimes do this because of staffing shortages, but it’s not ideal or sustainable. I’d push back again or ask if they can bring in per diem help to cover some of the shifts. Advocating like you’re doing is really important — you’re not wrong to feel uneasy about it.

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score 2 · Answer 6

For others unfamiliar with NHTD...

"The NHTD Program refers to New York State’s Nursing Home Transition and Diversion (NHTD) Waiver, a Medicaid-funded initiative designed to support individuals in the community as an alternative to nursing home placement."

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Thanks for that explanation Geaton .

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Care giver hours: Is this appropriate?

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