Introducing myself and info on being a paid family caregiver

[Rubeandrubye]

I am a retired educator who is taking care of my mom. I am in good health and my daughters are grown and I thought I could work full time for a hour wage to pay credit bills however I am working PT and taking care of my mom. It would help me if I could get paid as a family caregiver since I am doing all the work such as cooking, cleaning, driving , shopping, counselling, washing and many more activities to keep her alive and healthy. Please advise

[JaneCares]

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@Rubeandrubye wrote:

I am a retired educator who is taking care of my mom. I am in good health and my daughters are grown and I thought I could work full time for a hour wage to pay credit bills however I am working PT and taking care of my mom. It would help me if I could get paid as a family caregiver since I am doing all the work such as cooking, cleaning, driving , shopping, counselling, washing and many more activities to keep her alive and healthy. Please advise

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Hey there, Rube and Ruby (which one are you? 🙂

You've received excellent advice already. I'll just add a couple of bits.  Since you lived your life as an educator, it's time to learn and teach some more in a different subject than your specialty. One of life's miraculous blessings is that there is no end to opportunities to learn and teach and share.

In addition to pursuing ways for you to get paid, i figure it's a good idea to get your mother's financial affairs in order for the present and future. Figuring out when she qualifies for medicaid is one step for sure. Related to that are a lot of of choices. Is she eligible (and okay with) a reverse mortgage? That's one way folks stay in their homes. Are there possessions she'd like to sell, after she figures out who should inherit what? (and put labels on the backs of them with her wishes). She can go through her possessions, memorabilia, clothing, with you, a life review of sorts, and let her be the decider of who gets what. Donation? Your children? Her best friend, or the charity of her choice? It's such a burden on the survivors after the death to figure all this out. Why not share the activity now? And liquidate what isn't needed for extra cash?

Perhaps your kids, and other extended family, can be a part of caring for her in a way that teaches everyone how really true it is that it takes a village... to do anything really, but especially to rear children AND help older people live in community and with love, instead of in isolation.

Tell us more! She is so lucky to have you in her life and home!!

Jane

[Jen]

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@Rubeandrubye wrote:

I am a retired educator who is taking care of my mom. I am in good health and my daughters are grown and I thought I could work full time for a hour wage to pay credit bills however I am working PT and taking care of my mom. It would help me if I could get paid as a family caregiver since I am doing all the work such as cooking, cleaning, driving , shopping, counselling, washing and many more activities to keep her alive and healthy. Please advise

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Hi @Rubeandrubye Here is the link we use on this subject:  www.aarp.org/gettingpaidforcaregiving

Please let me know if you find this helpful. I apologize if there were errors with previous links in this post. We will be sure to look into it. 

Please write back. 

[GailL1]

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@Rubeandrubye wrote:

I am a retired educator who is taking care of my mom. I am in good health and my daughters are grown and I thought I could work full time for a hour wage to pay credit bills however I am working PT and taking care of my mom. It would help me if I could get paid as a family caregiver since I am doing all the work such as cooking, cleaning, driving , shopping, counselling, washing and many more activities to keep her alive and healthy. Please advise

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Some states have a pay type plan for those who are on low income and eligible for Mediaid.  So check with you state office on aging to see if it exist and if your Mom might qualify.

if your Mom is not low income as determined by the state where she resides, she can still pay you for doing these things for her.

[Rubeandrubye]

Thank you ! I am in the state of Ohio. They have expanded Medicaid. I will give the community updates on this issue

[GailL1]

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@Rubeandrubye wrote:

Thank you ! I am in the state of Ohio. They have expanded Medicaid. I will give the community updates on this issue

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If your mother is a senior - it has nothing to do with "expanded". Medicaid.

LOW INCOME Seniors have been a covered population in Medicaid forever.

The low income number as well as some available assets is define by the state.

So your criteria to review is (1) does she meet the eligibility of Medicaid for the low income elderly and (2) does the state have a program to pay a caregiver for daily life caregiving in the home.

Here is a good link that describes the different programs and what OHIO calls their programs 

Paying for Senior Care.com - Medicaid and Home Care - State by State Benefits and Eligibility

[VickiM68]

@Rubeandrubye This article may help answer some of your questions: 

https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/financial-legal/info-2017/you-can-get-paid-as-a-family-caregiver.htm...

[GailL1]

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@VickiM68 wrote:

@Rubeandrubye This article may help answer some of your questions: https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/financial-legal/info-2017/you-can-get-paid-as-a-family-caregiver.htm...

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Check the link - telling me page cannot be found

[VickiM68]

The URL should end in ".html"  For some reason extra characters are being appended and I can't seem to fix that. 

https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/financial-legal/info-2017/you-can-get-paid-as-a-family-caregiver.htm...

[GailL1]

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@VickiM68 wrote:

The URL should end in ".html"  For some reason extra characters are being appended and I can't seem to fix that. 

https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/financial-legal/info-2017/you-can-get-paid-as-a-family-caregiver.htm...

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Then this should help the OP to open the page -

https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/financial-legal/info-2017/you-can-get-paid-as-a-family-caregiver.htm...

There was a % and then some numbers right after the "l" in the .html -