Medicaid, caregiver,TBI, ABI, brain injured, dementia. 10/13/12, "How to Get Paid for Being a Family Caregiver?"

How to Get Paid for Being a Family Caregiver

Go to http://www.caring.com/articles/payment-for-family-caregiver for more information.

Where can we find the funds and how can we settle on the terms for providing in-home care . . . ?

Written by Joseph L. Matthews, Caring.com Senior Editor

If you’re one of more than 70 million people who provide unpaid caregiving for a family member or friend — either in that person’s home or in your own — you know that the time and energy burden can be enormous. In fact, you may have cut back or given up your paying job. Your smaller (or now nonexistent) paycheck may be pinching you hard. If so, it might be possible for you to get a small but regular payment for your caregiving work.

Here’s how: If the parent, spouse, or other person you’re caring for is eligible for Medicaid, its Cash and Counseling program, available in some states, can provide direct payments that could go to you. A few other states have similar programs for low-income seniors, even if the person receiving care doesn’t quite qualify for Medicaid. Also, if the person you’re caring for has long-term care insurance that includes in-home care coverage, in some cases those benefits can be used to pay you.

If the person you’re caring for will be paying you from any source, it may be a good idea — for both of you — to draft a short written contract setting out the terms of your work and payment.

This article may help . . . if you are already providing care for your family member. It’s an opportunity to help your finances if your family member qualifies for Medicaid.

Go to http://www.caring.com/articles/payment-for-family-caregiver to listen to a video, regarding this topic, prepared and narrated by Joseph L. Matthews, Caring.com Senior Editor.

Hope, Health, and Happiness,

Vickie

About these ads