Seeking non-Medicaid caregiver financial support

[a428100m]

Hi, I'm new here and did a little searching and couldn't find anything directly relevant. Just a few articles and comments about how expensive it is to be a caregiver. Sorry if this is too long or in the wrong place.

My mother, who lives at home alone in another city in the same state, is starting cancer treatment. She might be able to get some caregiving through Medicare or long-term care disability insurance but not both at the same time. She does NOT qualify for Medicaid and is NOT a Veteran. She may have applied to a state agency, I don't know. She's very overwhelmed and fearful, but also resistant to help while clearly needing it and is not transparent with her finances.

However, she very quickly will probably need 24-hour care, maybe semi-skilled nursing, including a petsitter, and possibly hospitalization. Neighbors and  family members not very nearby might provide some help, but it likely won't be enough.

I heard years ago there was a program that would reimburse family members for doing caregiving, something about $85 a day. I cannot find anything about this, though. My suspicion is it doesn't really exist. But I literally do not have the resources to just quit my job, leave my rental housing, rely upon my old car to make trips back and forth, and my own healthcare insurance which I am actively using will not work in her city. If I get a job there, I wouldn't have the time or energy to help her much, especially to be on call overnights. I really don't know how people do it.

I'm feeling a lot of overwhelm and guilt at not being rich so I can just drop everything to go be what would really be a 24-hour a day job, unless some caregivers can be provided through insurance. 

None of the "resources" AARP et al. have provided have led anywhere so I'm trying this. Thanks for any leads. Hopefully I can find this website and discussion again.

[AlbertR152038]

Hey @a428100m I'm also heard about a similar kind of grant in my county, and the average aid is around 60 USD. But when I tried to get that aid, found no proper machenism for that.

It will be appreciated, if @NichetraM460176 can guide us on how to get this aid. Thanks!

[NichetraM460176]

You can always contact your area Area Agency on Aging to find out if there are caregiving grants available which can help with the costs. These are grants that can assist with in home aides and she may be eligible for meals provided through these agencies.

[MariaM670086]

Most of the family paid to support family programs are through your state. Each state has a different approach to helping its seniors. My mother lives in Indiana and they do a lot more for seniors than Illinois where I live. My father already lives with me and can get nothing except Medicare at this point because his social security is too high. Of course not enough to pay for a nursing home or assisted living facility. So his care is my financial burden to bear. So for, it’s doable. My mother is in worse shape and was in assisted living which was 3/4 covered by Indiana Medicaid program. I learned this while she was in a hospital for sepsis. That was the first sign she could no longer care for herself. They helped me tremendously. See if you can find a social worker via a state or county program. Family Services divisions. State there or a library. They are almost social workers nowadays.