My Mom (78) needs help errands, groceries, and cleaning etc. Can I get paid for doing this?

Tamie1969 asks if "Medicare" will pay her an income to caregive. .....unfortunately there seems to be some confusion in the answers above, between Medicare and MedicAid. The former is a Federal program for Part A (hospital ) Part B (clinic) Part D (pharmacy) and does not cover companion or caregiver services At All. MEDICAID on the other hand, is a federally funded but State Administered program which provides medical,clinical, and in-home caregiving services to LOW-INCOME citizens.

Tamie, check to see if any of the grocery stores in your area have on-line grocery shopping with either curb side pickup or home delivery. That has been a Godsend for me with my aging parents.

Tamie1969, shopping, errands and cleaning? Not in Texas. Medicaid might cover her for bathing, dressing, medical care, feeding, but that would require a certified aide through an agency.

My sister got paid for caring for our mother in her home. It wasn't remotely close to the salary of the job she retired from, but it helped and it gave her a feeling that it was a respectable thing to do. Mother also paid her for room and board out of her SS check. So, yes, some people do get paid for caring for parents.

It is good to think of the long-term consequences of giving up a job. But the monetary loss does depend, of course, on how much you make at your job, what benefits (if any) you are getting, and how many years of work you are giving up. Giving up a parttime job flipping burgers is very different that giving up a fulltime job cleaning teeth or treating sick animals. It also depends on how the payments for caregiving are structured. My sister was an employee of an agency, and had SS taken out of her check, for example.

The question of getting some compensation so that one can afford to care for parents has a LOT of factors to consider.

Up in the search box enter "getting paid." No one every posts again, that they found a way to get paid, as in a salary.

Tamie, here are some things to think about if one is trying to decide whether to quit work to care for an aging parent.... on average if a working person quits work he/she will lose over the years between $285,000 and $325,000 which includes loss of salary, plus net worth loss of the health insurance, loss of money being put into social security/ Medicare, loss of other benefits such as matching 401(k), profit sharing, etc. [source: Reuters 5/30/12]

Majority of grown children do not get paid for caring for their parent, unless the parent is financially able to pay from their own pocket. If a parent can afford to pay you, the parent might as well hire a certified trained caregiver… thus allowing you to keep a full-time job so that you can add to your own retirement

It is possible you could get paid. I don't know how things work in your state, but in some states once a person is qualified for Medicaid and is assessed to need in-home care, a relative may be paid for it.

So the first step would be to help Mom get on Medicaid.

But think hard about giving up your job. You might both be better off if you kept your job and mother got her in-home care from someone else. You would maintain your income level and your mother/daughter relationship.