Dear Denise,
I’ve been searching all day for answers and did not find any but I did find your web site. I wish I had found it sooner and had the time to go through it now.
I have so many questions it may take a month of Sundays to ask them. Of course that always leads to more. What I am trying to find today is is there any info on a monthly stipend to help take care of elderly disabled parent(s)?
My mom had back surgery 6 months ago and is now unable to walk. I have been there almost every day to help with her care. My husband, household and life have been put on hold. I wanted to go back to work but don’t know how I can arrange it and take care of Mom.
I have an elder sister who helps as often as possible but works full-time, an older sister that has now taken off for 6 weeks and usually doesn’t help much, an older brother (dialysis patient) who refuses to help with personal hygiene and toiletry and a younger brother who refuses to do anything or to come visit.
Any help on finding the answer? Thanks, and I hope this makes sense. I’m so tired and my brain is sluggish.
Hello,
You’re in a tough spot: How do you provide for family members who need your help without sacrificing your own security?
Our Caregiving or Your Career? section of articles may help. Visit here.
As for receiving reimbursement, you can check in your community to see what’s available to help. Programs differ from community to community. Some communities have programs that pay family caregivers, but many take into account a care recipient’s Medicaid eligibility (i.e., a care recipient must have income lower than a specific amount). You can see
what’s available in your community by calling the ElderCare Locator at 1-800-677-1116 for a referral to your local Area Agency on Aging. You also can search for help at http://www.benefitscheckup.org.
Unfortunately, Medicare (federal insurance program typically for persons 65 and older) does not reimburse a family caregiver. You can learn more about Medicare and Medicaid through our FAQs of Caregiving.
And, please feel free to join our online support groups; the members understand! You can learn about our groups here:
http://www.caregiving.com/get-support/
Hope this helps!
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I had recently talked to a rep from Aging and Disability about being paid for caregiver services. What can be done here, and Medicade is involved in this, is I would have to be hired through Society’s Assets, a caregiving agency. They would evaluate what needs to be done for mom, and how long each task would take. I would have to be trained by them, then given a chart of all the care tasks and length of time for each. I would be paid for maybe 5 hours of work, at aproximately 8.00 an hour. Nope, I can tell them how to care for my mom after 4 years, and my time is worth more then 8.00, and I work many more hours then 5, so, that was not even worth my time of checking into it, we manage. But for someone else who perhaps doesn’t do a 24/7 like I do, this might be an option and worth checking into. See if there is an Aging and Disability group in your area to call, they will come to the house to see you. They also helped me set up the financial POA too, a big load off my mind.
.-= Donna Webb´s last blog ..It’s That Most Wonderful Time of the Year? =-.
personally i stopped working to take care as well as spend time with my mom who moved in with us two years ago..she is 91. While we do have to cut down here and there I am blessed my husbands income was sufficient for me to stop working.
For me the simpler life was worth the paycheck. I myself would not feel comfortable getting paid to take care of my own mom but I totally understand anyone that needed the income. If you are dedicating your time than you should be reimbursed. My mom does help us with odds and ends, groceries, etc so i am blessed that i was able to stop workiing. Staying home however does have sacrifices but Im blessed that I was able to do this. Good luck in your journey taking care of your mom……
For caregivers that are caring for a veteran, there is a bill inching its way through congress that would not only pay a caregiver a bit of a salary, it would also allow the caregiver to receive medical care at a VA facility.
As it slowly works its way through the house and senate, I’ll keep you posted.
As an update, I have found more information on the comment above. It seems that the “Caregiver Omnibus Bill S.1963″ was approved unanimously through the senate on Nov. 19, 2008.
There is still a lot of things to make this a law, but you can track it at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-1963
At this point, only caregivers for veterans that were disabled as of 9/11/01 are eligible. But this really is huge, for it is the first recognition by a government agency that caregivers do a job that saves the government a great deal of money. The bill would give caregivers limited medical training, medical care through VA facilities and a monetary payment each month.
Contact your senators and representative to support this bill, and to let him know that there are more caregivers than this select group. Tell your reps that if you recognize thier needs, you MUST recognize our needs as well.
Hi William,
Thanks for this! We also included information about the bill in November; here’s the article.
Interesting about the VA. My mom receives Aid and Attendance through the VA, and we can only use it for medical expenses, including caregiving. However, we cannot use it to pay any family caregivers. It does help, though.