National shortage of home-care workers threatening the option of aging at home (grandfather, husband)
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In New York City my inlaws are suffering low-quality home care despite having the means to afford it.
Are you inferring that immigrants make low-quality home care aids? Maybe I'm wrong in hearing it that way.
My Canadian home health care nurses are immigrants from Africa, India, Philippines. They are actually Angels appointed to my care. A Blessing, each and every one.
Might have to go back to the old way where the family takes care of their own family instead of outsourcing such care.
Yes. That's exactly what we are doing, caring in home for my nonagenarian MIL. Works OK for now as she is still ambulatory and while there is some dementia, still aware enough to be able to help care for herself. Occasionally have a home health care worker in, but we handle 90% of her care.
Of course one day this won't be possible but in her mid 90's each year is not only $100,000 dollars or so saved - she is still alive and able to enjoy her great grandchildren. I have no doubt that she would have been dead long ago if she had remained in a "skilled nursing" facility.
This idea that we can import "brown people" to do all of the dirty jobs that no one else wants to do (like crop picking) is absurd.
I know that no one on this thread has said that and I am not putting words into their mouths but I have heard that sentiment elsewhere and it is so out of touch, elitist and entitled.
People are people. Some are gifted caregivers and healthcare professionals and some are not. It's an individual thing. The end.
Ensure
Yes, I agree. It is the same with veterans and the firemen who developed lung disease from the 9/11 rescue efforts. They had to fight to get medical care when what they do is often heroic, somebody ought to do it, but we dont want to pay the taxes that will provide them the care. Only their service.
Same with elders who have contributed and now need care they cannot do themselves.
Good catch! Posting on a phone increases the risk of typos. Fortunately, I have unlimited edit time!
Unfortunately, by the time a person is in that state they rarely have the ability to do that kind of planning for themselves. It's complex and not at all intuitive to layperson family members, either.
My sister hired a lawyer to help her wade through the Medicaid process to get help at home for her husband. She is a retired LPN, but she wanted someone who knew the system. She had to spend down a certain amount of money by a certain date because we had just sold our late mother's house so she had too much in her bank account (BIL could only have $2,000, she as spouse could keep $20,000) so she called a contractor and paid him in advance to renovate her kitchen.
Unfortunately, by the time a person is in that state they rarely have the ability to do that kind of planning for themselves. It's complex and not at all intuitive to layperson family members, either.
No it’s not intuitive it’s cumbersome government bureaucracy. We paid $7000 for a law firm to apply for my moms Medicaid because I worked full time and it’s very time consuming. You have to send them 5 years of bank statements, life insurance policies, investments, tax returns etc. Any check or withdraw that was over $500 had to be explained in writing.
They want to make sure you have not been giving money away, if they think you did, for instance gave $10,000 to granddaughter a year before you apply, they will penalize you by that amount and you will have to find a way to pay the facility $10,000 before Medicaid will start paying. All money spent in the five-year period before applying for Medicaid must be spent on the person themselves and that’s it. My mom was able to purchase a prepaid funeral, and pay for the lawyer and the geriatric care manager, but she would not have been allowed to buy me a car.
We paid another thousand or so to a geriatric care manager, who called the admissions directors at every ALF in the area, told them my moms assets etc and then gave us a list to tour of the facilities that agreed to take my mom knowing she’d outlive her money and be on Medicaid in a couple of years.
She did more than that but that was a Godsend for us. I could have done that myself but I would not have had the same access to the same people she did. If I called on my own, they would’ve made me fill out an application for each separate facility (many pages, every financial detail, health detail, etc) while she knew all these people and bypassed all that. Many of them have application fees as well, just like college applications. The lawyers were not worth $7000 IMO, however the geriatric care manager absolutely was worth every penny.
I’m not sure what you mean by “in that state”. My mom was still pretty independent when she moved into the ALF and we began this process, she still walked by herself dressed herself and took her own medicines. The only thing she couldn’t do was go up and down the stairs, which was a requirement in her house as the only bathroom was on the second floor. And she was starting to be afraid there alone.
I wish she had actually started planning it earlier. I knew she was not going to be able to age in her house, and I begged her to put her name on application list for low income senior apartments, but she wouldn’t do it.
Everyone should have some idea whether they will be able to age in their house or not, if it has multiple levels, if it requires stairs, if the doorways are too narrow for a walker, if it’s in the middle of nowhere with no nearby neighbors, etc you should be planning for the time when you won’t be able to stay there, at least without help. And then we are back to thread title where there are not enough workers to fill all these roles.
No it’s not intuitive it’s cumbersome government bureaucracy. We paid $7000 for a law firm to apply for my moms Medicaid because I worked full time and it’s very time consuming. You have to send them 5 years of bank statements, life insurance policies, investments, tax returns etc. Any check or withdraw that was over $500 had to be explained in writing.
They want to make sure you have not been giving money away, if they think you did, for instance gave $10,000 to granddaughter a year before you apply, they will penalize you by that amount and you will have to find a way to pay the facility $10,000 before Medicaid will start paying. All money spent in the five-year period before applying for Medicaid must be spent on the person themselves and that’s it. My mom was able to purchase a prepaid funeral, and pay for the lawyer and the geriatric care manager, but she would not have been allowed to buy me a car.
We paid another thousand or so to a geriatric care manager, who called the admissions directors at every ALF in the area, told them my moms assets etc and then gave us a list to tour of the facilities that agreed to take my mom knowing she’d outlive her money and be on Medicaid in a couple of years.
She did more than that but that was a Godsend for us. I could have done that myself but I would not have had the same access to the same people she did. If I called on my own, they would’ve made me fill out an application for each separate facility (many pages, every financial detail, health detail, etc) while she knew all these people and bypassed all that. Many of them have application fees as well, just like college applications. The lawyers were not worth $7000 IMO, however the geriatric care manager absolutely was worth every penny.
I’m not sure what you mean by “in that state”. My mom was still pretty independent when she moved into the ALF and we began this process, she still walked by herself dressed herself and took her own medicines. The only thing she couldn’t do was go up and down the stairs, which was a requirement in her house as the only bathroom was on the second floor. And she was starting to be afraid there alone.
I wish she had actually started planning it earlier. I knew she was not going to be able to age in her house, and I begged her to put her name on application list for low income senior apartments, but she wouldn’t do it.
Everyone should have some idea whether they will be able to age in their house or not, if it has multiple levels, if it requires stairs, if the doorways are too narrow for a walker, if it’s in the middle of nowhere with no nearby neighbors, etc you should be planning for the time when you won’t be able to stay there, at least without help. And then we are back to thread title where there are not enough workers to fill all these roles.
By "in that state" I only meant that your mom was not the one hiring the lawyers and geriatric case worker, etc. Nor would she likely have been able to wade through all of that by herself.
You only qualify for medicaid if you are already poor or if you have spent your personal saving down to the poverty level.
You don't have to be "poor" to qualify for Medicaid
My mom had to turn over the pension she was getting from my dad and SS. She kept 60 dollars a month for incidentals. The family house did not have to be sold. In Texas you can have a home worth 500K and still qualify.
You don't have to be "poor" to qualify for Medicaid
My mom had to turn over the pension she was getting from my dad and SS. She kept 60 dollars a month for incidentals. The family house did not have to be sold. In Texas you can have a home worth 500K and still qualify.
How would she ever begin to pay for property taxes and insurance on a 500K house if all she kept was 60 dollars a month. In what world would that not be considered poor?
This idea that we can import "brown people" to do all of the dirty jobs that no one else wants to do (like crop picking) is absurd.
I know that no one on this thread has said that and I am not putting words into their mouths but I have heard that sentiment elsewhere and it is so out of touch, elitist and entitled.
People are people. Some are gifted caregivers and healthcare professionals and some are not. It's an individual thing. The end.
Yes spring,
It takes a special kind of person to do those jobs. Anyone who just wants a pass into the work force won't find it in home care, at least not in Canada. idk in USA. You have to learn skills before qualification and love helping people. Whose going to pick a job where you change adult diapers. Not me. But home care workers will. Like I said. It takes a special kind of person and dedication.
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