There are 2 kinds of home care. The kind that I believe that you are considering is non skilled and would not be covered under Medicare. There are programs in different parts of states and counties. depending on where you live that will pay for you to care for you family member at home. Contact your local office on aging to find out what resources you have available.
I applied for help in caring for my Mother and was told I would receive $100 a month ok well better than nothing. (I haven't been able to work since I was laid off last year, that's when I noticed that Mom could not be left alone) About a month and a half later they told me that now you have to be finger printed and back round checked. Okay no problem, I have already been both for Cub Scouts, still no check. Really what would they do if I had a record, take my Mom away from me? Stupid if you ask me!
I agree with the "no payment needed" in theory, and I've been taking care of my dad for the last four years with no pay, but there are those (myself included) who have had to leave jobs because we can't leave them alone and can't afford to pay for adult day care. I am living from day to day on the little bit my dad brings in, and my love for him does not pay the electric bill. We don't qualify for help because what he brings in is just over what the criteria is around here. So before saying "no payment needed", which kinda makes me feel like crap for NEEDING payment, realize that some of us take care of them, "go through hell every day" AND don't have enough money to get by.
You should not feel bad about needing some financial help and if you can get anything you deserve it.
"You should not feel bad about needing some financial help and if you can get anything you deserve it."
Of course! Especially when you're lying and covering up your assets. It's OK, in order to cheat the government. Everybody is entitled to cheat on their taxes and to screw the government, so that they qualify for medical assistance. Even for the little things. But the more you can screw it, the better!
Hell the government only owes like 12 trillion dollars. When you cheat it, it's only a drop in the lake.
People who are care-givers deserve the best of everything. The fact that honest people are paying taxes in order to pay for their lies should not be a consideration. To even consider that you are using your neighbor's money to keep your own money proves how smart you are. And surely, god has to be on your side.
The poor saps who are truthful and don't lie and deceive, in order to get stolen money that they are not entitled to, are fools. Fools, fools, fools I say. Screw the government out of every penny you can lie and cheat it out of. It's the american way! Is this country great or not?
Just out of curiosity, what makes you think anybody is saying anything about lying or covering up assets? I've not seen anybody say anything like that. Think you writing stuff like that is pretty insensitive.
I never cheat on my taxes, I've worked all my life and have paid in a lot to this country. I have not applied for any "aid" since leaving my job to care for my father- who, I might add, is a Veteran and who also worked all his life and paid a lot of money into this country. I checked into it and found that we did not qualify. You are saying that for me to ask for help for taking care of a person who served his country and worked hard but who now cannot care for himself and who cannot afford the outragous amounts it costs to bring in a 24 hour caregiver is cheating the government?? Even though that government has about 1/2 the wages I WORKED FOR??? I really feel sorry for you, you seem to have a poor opinion of just about everybody- you must live a very lonely life. I hope that you get the help you need to not be so bitter.......
Nobody is talking about lying and cheating and hiding assets to get help. You worked and your father worked and he served his country and you both paid your share of taxes. The veterans administration will help with some care and other things so look into it so that you can get some kind of break=it is worth it.
Yanotk.. I pray you never have to walk in our shoes. I had to leave my job to care for my parents. I was self employed, did alright but nothing huge. Being self employed, I qualify for nothing, I have $138 in the bank, and have no medical. I luckily am able to work on my own car, which is pretty old, but I make due with it. I could get paid as caretaker in my state, we do have that program here. In fact, my parents are under the minimum income requirements and could easily qualify for a lot of things. However, and this is a big one. I have found it more important to allow them a $5000 saving account in case of emergency.. still under the limit for compensated caretaker... until you add their SS income and my dad's whopping $113 $ $621 pensions. Mom raised us, like all good 1950's mom's did. She gets zip, only 1/2 my dad's SS. Still not getting it? To qualify for this paid caretaker, you have to be on Medicaid. I do everything, every small, odd job, and my sister helps so that my parents can have Blue Cross. They need it. My mom has Post Polio, which wasnt' even recognized until a short time ago. Most of the meds she needs are either not recognized or teir 4. She hits the doughnut hole in March and we struggle until she gets out of it which will be, oh around the middle of November I think. And, that's not for both, just one. Her meds take most of their actual income. My dad, has his meds but they are less expensive. Together, in the hole, the pharmacy loves us for paying very close to $1600 month. Thank God for my sister and her family, because we get nothing from anyone else. Funny thing, I'm afraid to apply because if they lose Blue Cross, who knows what will and won't be covered. At least this way we know what we are facing. For now, I pray my health keeps up and I keep getting those small odd jobs. I did have my appendix out a few months ago and the hospital is accepting $20/week. I"m sure you take issue with that too, but heck, it's pay on time or bleed me. But I digress. So, Yanotk... I guess all I am really saying is that, before you make some broadcast, generalized, ill-informed statement, you might think to get your facts more in line with actual truths. As I said right off the bat, I pray you never have to walk in our shoes. If you do...... I really truly pray for your parents. PS Heck, almost forgot. My dad had a very very good job and was highly skilled in his profession, and is also a Veteran of WWII. (Combat photographer) He chooses to not use Veteran's benefits because he feels others need it more than he does. It's not a choice to need help when you get older, sometimes it's just a fact of life. I feel we are lucky because we get by and can maintain that choice, some people can not. Some people really desperately need the help. It is not a lot, in some states it is barely gas for the week, others it's an actual paycheck. Either way, just don't generalize and stereotype your opinions. I would hate it to come back and bite ya.
You mentioned that your father is a veteran; please go the the Veterans Administration and register your parents if they are not already registered. Your will need his service number or record (DD214). Even if you don't take them there for routine care you can get their prescriptsion filled for $8.00 and you can also sign up for mail order refils. Your Pharmasist should have directed you there.
already did that, but that's only a little of what our costs are. They don't pay the rent or utilities. Or the phone (which we only have because of dads lifeline service and so we can contact drs and such). Or food, we get what the state feels is too much to qualify for food stamps (there is a tool on line to check that). Thank God for the library and friends or I wouldn't be able to get on the internet or on here to find others who are going through the same things! There are no support groups around our area and I can't afford the gas to drive where they do. He makes too much for a nursing home to take him (something I don't want to do anyway) but not enough to afford someone to help me so I can get a job. I miss working, I love working, I've worked all my life and this is very difficult for me. I don't feel like I should have to explain to idiots who think just because I don't work I'm lazy and trying to get the government to support me. I have a dad who worked hard all his life to support me, who sacrificed for his family so we could have what we needed, for his country so we could ALL live a free life, and I am not going to turn my back on him now that he needs help himself!
In this great country of ours, some things make no sense whatsoever. Our heathcare system is designed for the elite. With the fees they charge and the lack of local support, some folks like myself are in quite a bind. After my cancer surgery and my subsequent chemo treatments I was left with bills totalling over $50,000. My insurance company had dropped me stating: pre-existing condition. There was no fighting this as I was in the situation where the insurance was to flip over to another program with my tenure, but I could not meet the eighteen month good health qualification. So the first refused to pay, and the second wouldn't accept me. Then a while later I needed another surgery to repair a hernia that was caused by the first surgery. My mind cannot comprehend what I now owe in medical bills. Unfortunately my husband had to stay out of work to care for me for 3 months. That wiped out our savings, but I am glad we had that to fall back on. There was no help available to us. Not even food stamps because he made x amount of dollars when he was working. Never mind the fact that I was unable to work. In my opinion, some help should be available to those of us who have paid into the system for many years. We should be taken care of when we have a catastrophic disease or illness. Care givers should be compensated for loss of wages. I am not a socialist, but some socialized medicine would go a long way in helping the people who need it. Never mind all the unwed mothers and drug addicts getting the benefits for years on end!
Samtulana, follow the link to check your eligibility. Link: http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/dependents/index.htm
Taking care of Mum is a choice I have made, due to her needs, and I love her. That, in no way, covers my expenses for my life. Whether the person caregiving is wearing diamonds and furs, or eeking out a survival in a low income job, caregiving takes it's toll. When government pays homehealth care agencies x amount of dollars to provide services and yet shut the door on paying a family member to care for the same person, government sends a very loud message to the people. When I checked Mum's records, for payments made to the healthcare agency, they amounted to $40,000 last year alone. That is without a provider; just PT, Aide, and a Visiting nurse. Amounting to a total of 7 hours a week, plus the fees the agency charges each time they re-instate Mum on their program. How can that be more fiscally sane than paying a competent family member for 24/7/365 care for the same member of society? When the government speaks of healthcare reform, I simply shake my head. It seems they have no idea of the reality of what is needed, and seldom check on the programs they do have in place. When I mention the possibility of fraud, concerning the healthcare agency, my Mum turns a deaf ear. She feels she must say nothing, for fear of losing her meager services. When I mention the time and energy I am expending, in regards to the enourmous sums the healthcare receives for less hours a week than I put in a day, she also turns a deaf ear. I am well aware she does not have the funds to compensate me, at all. Yet, after going through my savings, I am the one without, and still providing care, as my frugal fiscal needs fall to arrears. A system that sees outside agencies as more competent, and does not have the adequate resources to police them, has already failed. No matter who is the governing body, the programs in place do not meet the needs, nor do they appear to have any hope of ever doing so. Going to Hell in a Handbasket takes on new meaning when, as a caring daughter of an ailing mother, there are no concerns within our system, just rhetoric. Government may sound good on paper, yet, it fails to meet needs. Reform, in my estimation, is simply a word to gather votes.
Yep, you have that right VictoryMoon. My mom asked me the other day... what happens to you when we are gone? She has a point. We leave our jobs, have no medical, generally lose houses if we had them, and whatever else happens along the way. I have looked into getting some kind of stipend but we are just over the limit. It wouldn't be much, but as they said back a bit, it's better than nothing. It is sad that thousands are paid to "home health aids", and I've seen some of those. Granted some are very good but others, I would rather not comment. There should be a comparison cost saving thing to help us if the high priced services can be omitted. I am betting, those services have a lot to do with the real reason there is no stipend for family home care. I wish I'd thought this out more, but I hope you understand what I am saying. Plus, all this health care reform??? It's not going to be any better adn in some cases, much much worse. Sad to see what this country is becoming.
I sat at my computer and cried as I read your story.....it is also my story. I have been caring for my husband who has two rare cancers for the last seven years. There is no cure for him. For the six months before he was diagnosed, I cared for my mom who had small cell lung cancer that went to her brain. We struggle to make ends meet every month and every month I cry my heart out more times than I like to admit to anyone over my feelings of helplessness and complete despair with trying to make ends wave at each other. I recycle, reuse and overuse everything I can get my hands on and still it's not enough. I have been working since I was 14 and because I haven't worked for the last ten years at a "paying" job, I can't even get disability for myself. Both hands have been operated on, I've had two back surgeries, arthritis all through my body, glaucoma and numerous digestive problems. We make "TOO" much money from my husband's disability check to get Medicaid or food stamps to help. We've sold everything that isn't tied down and there just isn't an answer to any of our problems. I have felt very alone and depressed but don't want my husband to see me this way. Your story has helped me feel like I have a "sister" in all of this. Thank you for sharing your story. I feel like we save the system a lot of money by doing what we do out of love, but exactly who are we saving money for? Why can't we get some small monetary token back?
Neither my father or I have ever cheated on our taxes. My father is a vet of World War II, and my sister and I take care of him. I quit my job to take be there 24/7 and am just asking for a little financial assistance so he doesn't have to go into a nursing home which would cost much, much more. You need to find a heart, not everyone is a thief.
I would like to ask the writer if he's ever had to take care of anyone 24/7?
