According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of people over 65 is expected to nearly double by 2050. Given the predicted exponential increase of the elderly population, there is also going to be an increase in the number of caregivers, especially with women, minorities, and those older than the general population as the common caregivers. Caregiving-specific studies reveal that approximately 68 percent of spousal caregivers experienced job impacts from conflicts such as leaving work early or late or taking time off to give care. Caregivers are adversely affected financially by providing at-home care and those who need help feel that cannot afford assistance at home or have a caregiver forego pay from their own job to help them.
If you have a spouse, or loved one, that is in need of at-home care, programs such as the Medicaid Waiver program care pay 3rd party at-home care companies that can help. Indiana’s Aged & Disabled Medicaid Waiver Program allows for its elderly recipients to remain at home while getting the necessary treatment for the elder’s current state of health and to pay for care for hours per week based on needs of the applicant. However, there are financial and medical necessity requirements for the Aged and Disabled applicant to meet in order to receive at-home care.
Caregiver Homes of Indiana provides for these caregivers a unique program called Structured Family Caregiving in which the individual caring for their loved one can receive a tax‐free stipend to off‐set the costs of caring for a loved one at home. Not only does the caregiver receive a stipend for caring for their loved one, but they have access to a dedicated nurse and care manager on a monthly basis with in‐home visits, daily communication, and access to a professional care team. This care team provides training on conditions, diseases and resources in the community. For more information on whether you or a loved one would qualify for Structured Family Caregiving, please contact Lindsey Boots at 812.228.6529.
For the legal planning, please contact the office of Glenn A. Deig, Attorney at Law. Our Medicaid planners have an enormous amount of experience with handling such cases while protecting as many assets as possible. Many times people falsely believe that they cannot get help and stay at home; or coverage through these programs until they meet with us and we complete a consult and analysis of their factual and financial/medical situation.