To Wyndle: If your parent has dementia and cannot sign the caregiving contract, you should be able to do so as "agent" under the parent's power of attorney (POA). Make sure it is a "durable" POA, i.e., it is still effective even if the parent who signed it becomes incapacitated.
the situation with my dad who has dementia with lewy bodies as well as total body atrophy and parkinsonism is getting more severe. he is confined to a wheel chair and at times, more often than not, he is unable to comprehend simple instructions,(how to make wheelchair move) Mom is getting worse with her memory, when I call her the conversation is mostly her repeating questions or events over and over. My sister who is 50 lives with and takes care of them 24/7 has her own health issues. she has had two heart attacks, and since she has no outside job has no money or health insurance for her own needed heart meds. she tried to get assistance from the drug companies but it was a one time assistance. Her health is also declining. dad at times becomes angry and defiant and just the other day would not stop trying to get out of wheel chair. He got up, fell to the floor and pulled the wheel chair on top of him causing a cut on his arm(his skin is so thin it bruises and breaks easily). My frail 81 yr old mom and sis could not get him up off the floor because he freezes up and becomes dead weight. I don't know how much longer sis can do this.
The live in FLA and I live in MA. I make the trip there a couple of times a year to help, I also do tons of research online for services and assistance. At every turn we are denied. Even denied for Medicaid assistance. It is insidious to say they make too much to qualify for service because the live soley on mom and dad's SS and their monthly income is aprox $2,200. per month and expenses eat almost all if not all of this each month. The three of them live on this small amount. Sis has tried numerous times and been denied her own SSD. This leaves them with nothing until next ck comes in and the cupboards are literally bare.
Thanks to this forum I have received and tried all of the suggested avenues for help/services and as I said have been turned down at every turn.
It is becoming more difficult daily for them and sis has been in and out of hosp w pancreatitis as well. Which means there is a problem with mom and dad as they need someone there 24/7. They need med supervision, meals ( they forget to eat), and dad needs assistance with dressing, bathing, eating, toileting and physically getting in and out of hospital bed and wheelchair.
We just do not have any place to turn...the system is killing my parents and sister. We have discussed trying to find a place where they can be together and get the care they need. Dad with a secure facility and mom in an assisted living situation in the same facility..but again, it is something they would most likely be denied even if there is such a place in Palm Coast, Fla. There are NO assets, they rent, and even that has been increased again this year eating into more of their limited income.
We no longer know what to do, where to turn..we have no faith in the system anymore. :(
Attorney Heiser: You state that there has to be a contract between my parent and I. What if my mother has moderate dementia and I have her POA? How do I obtain that contract when she doesn't remember anything longer than 10 minutes? I do not have the trust here with me so I don't know if there are provisions for that. Is that contract essential for Medicaid?
Medicaid can always"recoup"their losses, bit most states do not put it into practice, especially if u can claim hardship and they definitely cannot do it if the caregiver lives with the parent. In Florida the program is called Cdc Plus. U can find them on the net cdcplus.org, parents used the program a lot for disabled children.
They do something like that here in Illinois it is called "cash and counseling" Medicaid will pay you for your work and then ask for repayment when you sell the family home. If you sell the home first and try to do "cash and counseling" they will call it a liquid asset, you will have as usual to pay your share of taxes on it, and the rest that are on any work statement.
If you are asking if a parent's funds may be used to pay a child for his or her caregiving efforts without it affecting Medicaid eligibility of the parent, the answer is yes (i) if the payments are equal to the local going rate for such work, (ii) a written contract between parent and child spells out the terms of the work, and (iii) the payments are made on an ongoing basis as opposed to a large up-front lump sum for future services. Notwithstanding that last requirement, there are indeed many states that allow a lump-sum payment for future caregiving services and they will not be deemed a penalty-causing gift subject to the five-year lookback rule. You will need to do further research to find out the rules of your own state in this regard.
Does this mean that Humana Gold will change too? Not that Humana provides much of anything to begin with. They can only go to Island Doctors which is contracted to Humana and they are terrible providers. You can not get anywhere with them nor can you get assistance and services. Maybe the HMO will be better and the PDO program will be debugged by then, although if it is state government run....it probably will be another bust and another nail in senior coffins.
All4glorygod, you hit the nail on the head. Caregiving for aging, ill parents is a mentally and financially draining situation. We woorynanoutnwhat my sister has to look forward to whe our parents pass. She heads no job, will probably not find one when the time comes, and no medical for herself. You are right, she does not and will not qualify for disability even though she has a bunch of health issues herself. It is shameful and disgusting that the elderly, born and raised I this country, who contributed to the making of this country have to live and die this way. That is, unless you are mega rich or in the senate, congress or White House.....
There is a program called cash & counseling. Not every state has it, but family members are payed to be caregivers. In Florida it is called CDCplus and the client must qualify for the medicaid waiver. however, in Fl. Everything is going HMO by December this program will end and the hmo is suppose to have something similar called PDO, but the pilot program has been a nightmare with most clients not receiving the care they need.
Caregivers are the most underrepresented group in three US. We work 24 hours for no pay, no health insurance, no respite from our situation. If you file for disability you won't qualify if you haven't had a paying job for three last 5 years. We should at least get work credits and be offered medicaid for health insurance. Other groups are getting benefits yet as caregivers w save the gov. Alloy of money by taking care of our parents. And with all the cuts that r coming for the aged and disabled, i just see us gong into more financial ruin.
My parents live in fla. my sister lives with them and takes care of them 24/7. She can not get a full time job outside of the home. She tried but the needs of mom and dad were to extensive. She has no health insurance and can not even afford her own heart medicines. She is 50, they are in their 80's. three of them live on parents SS. Is there a program that can help her?
In california we have the "In-Home Support Services" program, which pays you a wage to stay home & care for your parent, or if you cannot do so, you can use the program to hire health aids instead. It is a long process to get into the program, and I was never able to get my mom qualified for it because just as we would get close to qualifying, she would wind up back in the hospital & then discharged to a SNF - that would reset the clock on the application & we'd have to start all over again. Very frustrating.
Cumberland county Department of Social Service use to have a program where they provied in home care; which they paid the caregivers they sent to the home for the elderly but as of 18months ago, that has been elliminated due to budget/funding and is discontinued. They're caregivers were refered to private caregiving companies, but never as I know of, that they gave $s to the family to care for their homebound parents.
My dad lived with me for 5 years. I didn't work outside of the home. I never found any assistance available and I checked and consulted a social worker. I did have income coming in, just not from an outside job so that could have prohibited me from being eligible for assistance but I never found a source that would pay me to be a full-time, live-in caregiver who didn't work outside the home.
I've never heard of any. I think the philosophy is that you do it out of love, which the rest of the family, especially those not contributing anything but roadblocks and manipulation of finances to the care of your parent (or whomever) will be sure to point out when it comes to getting their share of any money left over. Sorry for the cynicism. I think one lady from Canada posted that their healthcare system pays something to keep the person at home because it's less expensive than a nursing home. I wish we did something like THAT here in the US.
I also have a question about Medicaid and taking care of a parent. I am POA of my Dad who is 5 hours away. I travel there every other weekend and spend 3 to 4 days with him setting up food clothes Dr apt and basicly just checking on his care which has turned out to be a fulltime emotional and physical job. I do have aids part time with him but need to go up and touch base to oversee. Is there a supplement for the caregiver for expenses they take out of pocket and taking time off of work? My Dad is 94.
The live in FLA and I live in MA. I make the trip there a couple of times a year to help, I also do tons of research online for services and assistance. At every turn we are denied. Even denied for Medicaid assistance. It is insidious to say they make too much to qualify for service because the live soley on mom and dad's SS and their monthly income is aprox $2,200. per month and expenses eat almost all if not all of this each month. The three of them live on this small amount. Sis has tried numerous times and been denied her own SSD. This leaves them with nothing until next ck comes in and the cupboards are literally bare.
Thanks to this forum I have received and tried all of the suggested avenues for help/services and as I said have been turned down at every turn.
It is becoming more difficult daily for them and sis has been in and out of hosp w pancreatitis as well. Which means there is a problem with mom and dad as they need someone there 24/7. They need med supervision, meals ( they forget to eat), and dad needs assistance with dressing, bathing, eating, toileting and physically getting in and out of hospital bed and wheelchair.
We just do not have any place to turn...the system is killing my parents and sister. We have discussed trying to find a place where they can be together and get the care they need. Dad with a secure facility and mom in an assisted living situation in the same facility..but again, it is something they would most likely be denied even if there is such a place in Palm Coast, Fla. There are NO assets, they rent, and even that has been increased again this year eating into more of their limited income.
We no longer know what to do, where to turn..we have no faith in the system anymore. :(
If their house was sold and they are living with you, you can take off their part of the rent and utilities, and still get paid.
But it cannot be a lump sum...
Medicaid will pay you for your work and then ask for repayment when you sell the family home. If you sell the home first and try to do "cash and counseling" they will call it a liquid asset, you will have as usual to pay your share of taxes on it, and the rest that are on any work statement.
I am POA of my Dad who is 5 hours away. I travel there every other weekend and spend 3 to 4 days with him setting up food clothes Dr apt and basicly just checking on his care which has turned out to be a fulltime emotional and physical job. I do have aids part time with him but need to go up and touch base to oversee. Is there a supplement for the caregiver for expenses they take out of pocket and taking time off of work? My Dad is 94.