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Newsletters>
URGENT MESSAGE Caregiving Requirements
November 4, 2008
Happy Fall to all of you!
This letter comes to you as an urgent message.
If you have been a Caregiver/student and have found a
difficult situation with the Home Based Community Waiver
Programs and Care Star, please email me your problem to
PMuraco1@aol.com.
I am going to try and change some laws which disallow Power
of Attorneys and Guardians to get paid for caring for their
loved ones at home, but I need your help.
I need your letters and signatures from not only
caregivers, but all of the public who is concerned about
nursing home placements and their inability to care for
their loved ones in their own home invironment. Remember,
YOU MAY BE NEXT!
FIRST ISSUE - GUARDIANSHIPS AND POWER OF ATTORNEYS
The programs currently do not allow Guardians and Power Of
Attorneys to get paid for caring for their loved ones at
home. This creates a major problem in that the caregiver is
most of the time the ONLY ONE who cares for their loved
one. It is a great inconvenience for the caregiver not to
be POA or Guardian, because not only does the Caregiver
care for their loved ones health care, but financial
situations must be cared for as well. Having a POA or
Guardian other then the Caregiver makes it difficult for
the Caregiver to have to constantly consult in outside
sources. When I cared for my mother at home, I had Power Of
Attorney and was able to make sure that my mother's bills
were paid for, because I knew what she needed when she
needed it and had no additional time to consult in another
person as POA. As a matter of fact, I had to write out my
own check for her spenddown with Medicaid, because the
spenddown had to be paid prior to the month applying for
Medicaid and Social Security checks did not arrive until
the 3rd of the month.
SECOND ISSUE - LOW WAGES AND DECREASED HOURS FOR THE
CAREGIVERS
Community Based Waiver Programs have cut Caregiver hours
making it virtually impossible for Caregivers to survive at
home. The purpose of these programs were to save the State
of Ohio millions of dollars in Nursing Home fees by paying
the Caregiver less money then if the Caregiver placed their
loved ones in a nursing home. According to Golden Buckeye,
http://www.goldenbuckeye.com/families/nursinghomes.html,
the average monthly cost of a nursing home in the state of
Ohio was $4,600.00. Caregivers who place their loved ones
in a nursing home and on Medicaid could expect the state of
Ohio to pick up that montly fee, resulting in millions of
dollars in tax payers monies. Caregivers who keep their
loved ones at home could save tax payers monies providing
Caregivers get paid enough money to pay their monthly
bills. At this point in time, Medicaid programs are paying
Caregivers sometimes 15 hours a week at $9.00 an hour, or
$135.00 a week making it virtually impossible for a
Caregiver to stay at home, pay their bills and care for
their loved ones.
One of the reasons that Caregivers are getting paid such
low wages is that the Home Health Agencies who the
Caregiver is employed with are taking most of the money for
their fees! It is the Caregiver who is doing most of the
work, but the Home Health Agencies are profiting the
majority of the money resulting in unsuccesful programs.
We need to stand up and voice our comments, but we need to
do this as a whole and not only a few. Many names on a
petition will work wonders, but if no one stands up to
change any laws, then no laws will be changed.
Please help me in your support by writing a letter to
Govenor Strickland, FORWARDING IT TO ME(including pictures
of your loved one if applicable) and voicing your opinion
on how important it is to change this law.
Thanking you in advance for your support.
Peggy Ann Muraco
PMuraco1@aol.com
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