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Why do you guys feel caregivers should be exempt from OT pay like other industries? I know it's hard to afford, but it' hardly unfair IMO if care giving became a job people could actually support their family on, the quality of care givers would go up, and that can only be good for seniors IMO as an OT working in geriatric rehab (and also as the daughter of a mother who couldn't afford round the clock care and so had to move into an ALF). People stocking shelves at WalMart or flipping fries should get OT pay, but not the people caring for our loved ones?
I'm not sure that anyone on here as argued that they should be exempt from OT pay (though apparently according to some of the updates provided by another member they still generally are) --- just that having to pay overtime will make it impossible for some people to keep home caregivers and will therefore be forced into other situations that may not be wanted.
The cost of care (even without OT) is a tremendous burden for many families - I hope that eventually our society pays more attention to this issue and some type of new/additional solutions are proposed. Maybe the sheer mass of the baby boomers will force this issue into the light.
I'm not sure that anyone on here as argued that they should be exempt from OT pay (though apparently according to some of the updates provided by another member they still generally are) --- just that having to pay overtime will make it impossible for some people to keep home caregivers and will therefore be forced into other situations that may not be wanted.
The cost of care (even without OT) is a tremendous burden for many families - I hope that eventually our society pays more attention to this issue and some type of new/additional solutions are proposed. Maybe the sheer mass of the baby boomers will force this issue into the light.
I understand that, again my Mom is one of those people...what my point is, is people seem to blame politics and see it as a bad thing....it's not a care givers fault that my Mom can't afford care, and they shouldn't be underpaid simply because more people won't be able to afford it. I think other measures need to be taken, Medicaid expanded to cover home care more effectively, etc. but to take it out on low income hard working people trying to survive is not fair, IMO. If you want to look at why health care costs are so high, look farther up the chain, because it isn't the bottom of the health care salary barrel causing costs to skyrocket. IMO these agencies are saying without words: "We've been forced into a choice between reducing our profits which will then reduce the value of our stock options, or passing the costs onto you....we've chosen to pass then onto you".
Why do you guys feel caregivers should be exempt from OT pay like other industries? I know it's hard to afford, but it' hardly unfair IMO if care giving became a job people could actually support their family on, the quality of care givers would go up, and that can only be good for seniors IMO as an OT working in geriatric rehab (and also as the daughter of a mother who couldn't afford round the clock care and so had to move into an ALF). People stocking shelves at WalMart or flipping fries should get OT pay, but not the people caring for our loved ones?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ocnjgirl
I understand that, again my Mom is one of those people...what my point is, is people seem to blame politics and see it as a bad thing....it's not a care givers fault that my Mom can't afford care, and they shouldn't be underpaid simply because more people won't be able to afford it. I think other measures need to be taken, Medicaid expanded to cover home care more effectively, etc. but to take it out on low income hard working people trying to survive is not fair, IMO. If you want to look at why health care costs are so high, look farther up the chain, because it isn't the bottom of the health care salary barrel causing costs to skyrocket. IMO these agencies are saying without words: "We've been forced into a choice between reducing our profits which will then reduce the value of our stock options, or passing the costs onto you....we've chosen to pass then onto you".
Recovering,
If your MIL can't afford in home healthcare, help with your FIL, he must go into a nursing home.
That is probably your next step.
Researching what nursing home he will have to go into.
That's just the way it goes.
Nursing homes start at around 6-8 K a month, but if your mom
doesn't go into one, the family home is hers to live in, you will have to
check into all that.
Good Luck to you, it isn't going to get any easier.
Your FIL isn't by any chance a veteran? If he is, there are other avenues to pursue. Otherwise the next step is a nursing home. Your MIL is a saint. Dementia and in a wheelchair isn't easy to handle.
From reading some of these threads, I'm not really sure what some people are asking for. Almost sounds like a few think home healthcare workers should make poverty wages so their elderly or enfeebled relatives can live at home forever, even after it has become impractical.
People who can't afford significant at-home assistance can't afford nursing homes either. Nursing homes are very expensive, and someone who could write a check for $8k/month would also be able to generally afford at-home assistance.
For all those who will then say "Medicaid" - well, medicaid has programs to pay for IN-HOME care as well as institutional (medicaid has been trying over the last decade to stop institutionalizing people as the default, because most patients would prefer to "age-in-place" when possible). So if the person is approved for medicaid (which would pay for a nursing home) - they should also be able to get medicaid to pay for significant at-home assistance.
So the person who ends up having issues is the person who's not on Medicaid, but not filthy rich.
Generally speaking - two options - find a way to afford the care you need - inlcuding getting VA assistance if a veteran during a time of war, check into local social programs (many use sliding scales and you may be able to get care at a reduced rate), take advantage of "day programs" if there are any available (many community senior centers have such things at very reasonable rates) -- or - impoverish oneself (i.e. spend down) and apply for medicaid.
Most people will eventually end up in that situation - but you may be able to delay it a while by taking advantage of any/every other program available.
As far as the wages of home health aides (generally the lowest paid of any caregiving category) -- getting a relative into a nursing home doesn't magically pay the caregivers any more. Nursing homes pay as low a wage as the market will bear (in this area around $10/hour). The $6K-$10k /month you're paying to the facility goes to food and shelter and some medical equipment, but the people who are providing care make (generally) just as little as the people providing home care, the only difference might be that they have a better guarantee of steady hours. (of course they also might have 10 patients to care for at once). There might be a RN or two, and a PT person and admin who make reasonable money - but providing hygeine care for the "enfeebled" does't pay well anywhere - whether in an institution or in a private home.
People who can't afford significant at-home assistance can't afford nursing homes either. Nursing homes are very expensive, and someone who could write a check for $8k/month would also be able to generally afford at-home assistance.
For all those who will then say "Medicaid" - well, medicaid has programs to pay for IN-HOME care as well as institutional (medicaid has been trying over the last decade to stop institutionalizing people as the default, because most patients would prefer to "age-in-place" when possible). So if the person is approved for medicaid (which would pay for a nursing home) - they should also be able to get medicaid to pay for significant at-home assistance.
So the person who ends up having issues is the person who's not on Medicaid, but not filthy rich.
Generally speaking - two options - find a way to afford the care you need - inlcuding getting VA assistance if a veteran during a time of war, check into local social programs (many use sliding scales and you may be able to get care at a reduced rate), take advantage of "day programs" if there are any available (many community senior centers have such things at very reasonable rates) -- or - impoverish oneself (i.e. spend down) and apply for medicaid.
Most people will eventually end up in that situation - but you may be able to delay it a while by taking advantage of any/every other program available.
As far as the wages of home health aides (generally the lowest paid of any caregiving category) -- getting a relative into a nursing home doesn't magically pay the caregivers any more. Nursing homes pay as low a wage as the market will bear (in this area around $10/hour). The $6K-$10k /month you're paying to the facility goes to food and shelter and some medical equipment, but the people who are providing care make (generally) just as little as the people providing home care, the only difference might be that they have a better guarantee of steady hours. (of course they also might have 10 patients to care for at once). There might be a RN or two, and a PT person and admin who make reasonable money - but providing hygeine care for the "enfeebled" does't pay well anywhere - whether in an institution or in a private home.
This was my Mom. She had income of $1500 a month between SS and a small pension, a rowhome worth about $50,000, and about $50,000 in savings. She made too much in Philly to qualify for home health assistance and not enough to pay for it. We hired a geriatric social worker who found assisted living facilities who agreed upfront to accept my mom and to let her continue to live there once her funds ran out and she went to Medicaid. She is now in a very nice place, and while not exactly happy, she is safe and we made the best of it.
The trend needs to move more toward home care in general, however what irks me is that people continually look at the bottom when they look for blame - it's the teacher's fault my taxes are so high, it's the HHA's salaries that are at fault, etc. when the HHA's are victims of a system that rewards corporate profits over human beings too. If an agency is charging you $22 an hour for a HHA, the aide herself is only getting about $10 of that, whose fault is that? I am glad the government is trying to put protections in place for them.
The trend needs to move more toward home care in general, however what irks me is that people continually look at the bottom when they look for blame - it's the teacher's fault my taxes are so high, it's the HHA's salaries that are at fault, etc. when the HHA's are victims of a system that rewards corporate profits over human beings too. If an agency is charging you $22 an hour for a HHA, the aide herself is only getting about $10 of that, whose fault is that? I am glad the government is trying to put protections in place for them.
I don't think you understand how it works.
Are you an independent contractor or an employee or some hybrid? Obviously as an employee, you just waltz in and pick up your check. And I assume you have SOME personal expenses like INSURANCE which, in my client's agency, is mandatory for the staff to have. I don't think it works that way for the ALF employees.
I don't know how you possibly think it's the agency's "fault" that the workers make $10.00 out of a $22.00 hourly client payment rate.
How much do you THINK the agency should get to "keep" to operate their business?
Have you looked at your PAYROLL TAXES in your check? Your agency is paying some Unemployment and matching Social Security and Medicare taxes before they even make a dime. Just off the top of my head...
So right off the bat, they are giving the government part of that whopping $22.00 the client is willing to pay.
So let's say there's $18.00 left. They give you $10.00 and that leaves a whopping $8.00 say, times 28 hours is $224.00 a pay period BEFORE THEY PAY THEIR OWN FEDERAL TAXES and all the other expenses required to manage YOUR career. Like Insurance, HOURS of talking to these clients and their families, office time doing payroll, taxes, accountants, receipt and expense recording, scheduling the EMPLOYEES, transportation, medical supplies, advertising, networking, computers, computer TRACKING systems, websites, fax machines, printers, etc etc etc.
I know you said HHA but do you buy the client's personal care needs out of YOUR pocket? NO, the agency has to provide something if the client is missing it and that gets reimbursed and as someone who does that lemme tell you it's a royal PITA. THEN for the LPN/RN staff they have to bring their own wound care, UTI testing etc etc. MORE time and expense. THEN there's the tracking with the labs, the hospitals, the results, speaking with the DOCTORS. What if you have to transport someone? MORE expense with the wheelchairs or canes or what not. And MORE liability. MORE insurance.
It's AMAZING they can even STAY in business.
As a dog walker, I give 40% of what I make to the government BEFORE ANY EXPENSES that I have like car, gas, advertising, computers, websites, MILEAGE, supplies ....the list goes on and on. Not including people cancelling, yakking on the phone and adding time to my jobs like too many tasks in one visit.
You don't think your agency is going to pay you overtime or differential or anything any more for overnights do you? They're going to find some entry level nobodies at entry level pay to replace you. Thanks to the government "protecting" you.
You're also going to be competing with unlicensed, unqualified under the table workers.
Just like the time someone here thought they could find a "college student" or "older lady" to live in with a high demand client who essentially needed ALL FIVE ADLs...as if it was such a great job LOL.
People who want to be COMPLETELY in charge of their Home Health Care careers and income can be their OWN business, as Independent Contractors and have all the fun other businesses have satisfying the public AND the government - one wanting to spend as little as possible and the other wanting to TAKE as much as possible.
Last edited by runswithscissors; 12-24-2014 at 11:27 AM..
When you need around-the-clock care, the home care alternative with a decided assistant from an home healthcare agency becomes prohibitively expensive. You have to spend at least $20/hr around the clock. Your choice is to look for someone to hire directly as a live-in household employee who doesn't fall under the new guidelines (see guidelines) or to get into an alternative group living arrangement where the cost of medical help is shared.
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