Are you serving as a caregiver to an older or disabled family member? It can be an invaluable service to a loved one and a rewarding experience as well. Unfortunately, however, it can also come at a great cost. Those working as family caregivers often have to significantly reduce work hours or leave jobs in order to accommodate caregiving duties. With this significant loss of income, it may be important for caregivers to know their options regarding their choices for seeking compensation for caregiving services.
First, you may want to investigate whether your employer offers any paid leave for caregivers. With more and more people needing to leave work to help care for family members in need of assistance, companies are trying to accommodate this as best as possible. See if your company offers something like an elder care program that will allow for paid leave for caregiving.
Long-term care insurance may also provide an avenue for compensation. If the loved one you are caring for has a long-term care insurance policy, you may want to see if it allows for caregiver compensation. Some of these policies include provisions which will pay a family member who provides caregiving services to the policyholder.
If the loved one you are caring for is Medicaid eligible, you, as a family caregiver, may be able to be compensated via a Self-Directed Medicaid Services program. These are programs that are available in various forms in the majority of states and allow program participants an allotted budget, part of which may be used to retain and compensate a caregiver. In Florida, for example, there is the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Program. In this program, there is a Participant Directed Option which allows participating older adults to select care providers, which may even be a spouse or adult child, and have the care provider receive compensation for caregiving services rendered under the program.
For more information about caregiver assistance and long term care planning, along with other important estate planning tools, please reach out to our office to schedule an appointment. We do telephone, computer, and face-to-face appointments. Our face-to-face appointments are held outside in the open air (frequently selected by clients for document signing) and inside our office conference room. We follow all CDC guidelines. Our office procedures adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols and are designed and enhanced by medical review and air quality engineering.