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I help (long distance) manage care for my in-laws. About 3 years ago, my FIL, who was already suffering with dementia, had a debilitating stroke, leaving him completely paralyzed on his left side. He is completely wheel-chair bound and my MIL had to hire a home healthcare agency to provide round the clock care for him. (He would wake up at night and still try to walk to the bathroom, forgetting of course, that he'd had a stroke and could no longer walk.) The home healthcare agency they're with just raised their rates, of course, to offset what they will now have to fork over in overtime pay for their caregivers.
I'm sure everyone out there who is currently with a home healthcare agency must be dealing with these same kinds of issues? This has become cost prohibitive now for my in-laws who cannot keep paying the agency indefinitely.
What are some other options that some of you may be looking at in order to get out from under the home healthcare rate hikes???
My agency has been cutting back hours to accomodate the law that goes int place Jan 1st....I offered to sign a waiver and forfeit time and a half but they won't....A lot of my comrades have offered the same. Therefore we're getting cut just enough and that involves bringing in more strange faces that the client doesn't understand. Most of us caregivers are now looking to hire on at other agencies to make up the hours. For most of us, the hours aren't a problem. I've done 56-88 hour weeks no problem.
Home-care industry officials warned that the increased costs caused by the new rule might make many families unable to afford home care and might push more Americans who are disabled or older than 65 into nursing homes, increasing costs for the government. Moreover, some states warned of increased Medicaid costs.
VERSUS:
Quote:
Jodi Sturgeon, the group’s president, said, “The decision to delay means that two million home-care workers — largely low-income women, and disproportionately women of color — will have to wait as long as another 12 months to receive even the most basic labor protections, guarantees that most other American workers take for granted.”
Then, there's this moron who somehow makes it about implementing the HIGHER RATES without cutting service. Their comment is a complete non sequitur. And "aids home-care workers" is the euphemism for "ORGANIZING home-care workers".
How does that work, exactly?
Quote:
Caring Across Generations, a group that aids home-care workers and those who need home care, applauded the administration’s move.
Ai-jen Poo, a group co-director, said, “As states prepare for implementation to begin in 2015, we hope that they can act swiftly to ensure that needed services are neither cut nor delayed.”
All you can hope for is that Congress can unravel this spaghetti that the Obama administration has created.
It's time to ensure you have all the paperwork in place/ POAs etc. Because it appears they'll have to go on Medicaid. Like the FIRST quote easily predicted.
I'm thinking after awhile you'll see the very most INEXPERIENCED people filling slots after this is in effect for awhile.
I help (long distance) manage care for my in-laws. About 3 years ago, my FIL, who was already suffering with dementia, had a debilitating stroke, leaving him completely paralyzed on his left side. He is completely wheel-chair bound and my MIL had to hire a home healthcare agency to provide round the clock care for him. (He would wake up at night and still try to walk to the bathroom, forgetting of course, that he'd had a stroke and could no longer walk.) The home healthcare agency they're with just raised their rates, of course, to offset what they will now have to fork over in overtime pay for their caregivers.
I'm sure everyone out there who is currently with a home healthcare agency must be dealing with these same kinds of issues? This has become cost prohibitive now for my in-laws who cannot keep paying the agency indefinitely.
What are some other options that some of you may be looking at in order to get out from under the home healthcare rate hikes???
Agreed - private home care is expensive - you've either got to help them cut the costs (i.e. less care/different care) or get financing from other sources (insurance, social help programs, etc..).
On the cut the costs side -- hiring private pay (not through an agency), but that's tough if you're not there to oversee (hiring unethical people, etc..). You'd still have to pay overtime/etc.. (those are laws so you can't get out of them), however the hourly rate is usually less. (If you pay an agency $25 an hour, you might be able to pay a person directly $15/hour)
Of course you'll have to take care of taxes/etc yourself.
On the more resources side -- as Runs with Scissors states -- you may need to look into applying for medicaid for your FIL. Medicaid does make more allowances for home care than Medicare does.
Was your FIL a veteran? If so, did he serve during war time? (WWII, Korea, Vietnam, etc.. ? ). If so, he may be eligbile for VA aid and attendance payments, which can be relatively significant. My understanding is the application is a pain (there are online charitable organizations which help for free) - but you may be able to get him a significant extra amount of money ($1000/month +) to help pay for care.
Local social services. Perhaps your FIL could qualify for assistance through local senior services for care at a reduced rate? Or a local "day program"?
Care is ridiculously expensive, I know. I am sorry your In-Laws are having to deal with this.
The government delayed enforcement for six months.
They'll have to hire multiple workers to get around having to pay overtime. Some not-so-good home health workers may get more hours. The big thing is there's no way to work around it for care providers who have to live with their clients.
“Under the ruling, home care agencies and other third-party employers can continue denying minimum wage and overtime pay to workers who provide primarily ‘fellowship and protection,’ as opposed to more extensive care. The ruling also means that workers who live in their clients' homes and are employed by home care agencies are not eligible for overtime pay.”
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 think it depends on what arrangements are provided to caregivers, such as room and board, transportation, etc.
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