Follow
Share

My mom has vascular dementia from a stroke she had in 9/21. She lives with me in Philadelphia since 12/21. She only has Medicare and that does not pay for in home care so I was told to apply for Medicaid and that would pay for in home care if she was accepted and she was. Once approved I had to pick a Medicaid approved health insurance company. The home care agency that I picked would bill them and that's how they got paid. There have been multiple times where the caregiver would call out and they would not have a replacement so that would mean that I would have to take a day or days off to be a fill in caregiver for my mom. I thought that if I got hired by the agency I could get paid to recoup some of my lost wages. I was hired, got paid as a fill in only when the main caregiver didn't show up. Almost a year goes by. Recently they became aware that I was the POA for my mom and said that I cannot be a paid caregiver and have POA. I don't understand why because the agency isn't billing my mom and I'm writing out a check to pay them that pays me, the agency is billing Medicaid's Health Insurance and they are paying them. They will not give me a proper explanation and I asked them for documentation from wherever they got their information. These agencies do not 110% guarantee coverage for when one of their employees call out or take time off. I'm just trying to keep my mom safe and try to recoup some of my lost wages for when I have to take off. I know that I'm not the only person going through this and I hope I can find some answers because I am mentally exhausted. What happens if you're an only child in this situation. Thank you for your input.

Find Care & Housing
I am afraid you have tripped into the same situation that working parents with children who have caregivers face. And they do face it all the time. They often have almost no notice that the caregiver cannot show up. They often lose work days and they often cannot come to conclusions about which parent will lose/can lose a day off work.

I am actually VERY surprised that the state would pay for any caregivers at all inhome (that is a good state program) and surprised they would EVER agree to pay a family member for filling in because they have to leave work because a hired caregiver could not show up.

I don't think you are going to win this one simply because I don't know that we EVER can win over the government unless we have millions of dollars to sink into attorneys. Just my humble opinion and I hope to goodness that I am wrong.
Here's my question? Are they expecting you to pay back what they have paid you? And if so, how much is that and how could you ever do it.

Wishing you good luck on this one, hoping you win, and hope that you'll update us.
Helpful Answer (1)
Reply to AlvaDeer
Report

You can't have POA and get paid because its a conflict of interest. Surprised no one could not give you that answer.
Helpful Answer (1)
Reply to JoAnn29
Report

This is kinda crazy! If they hired you and have been paying you to watch her when you have to take off work, I really don't see what POA has to do with it. If you were paying yourself out of her account, that might be a little more difficult. But the company is paying you when they don't show up. I guess it's a loophole?
Helpful Answer (2)
Reply to againx100
Report

Ask a Question
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter