What kind of rights does she have in choosing a home health aide?
My mother is a veteran’s widow, is homebound and depends on Medicare-Medicaid for her home health aide. Our experiences over the years have not been positive. What are her rights in choosing a health aide that will do the job? And what are our rights if the agency keeps sending horrible health aides?
One year we went through about twenty aides in less than six months before finding one we could only tolerate. Help…. I just demanded that one be removed last week because my mother was afraid to tell her she was having chest pains and the health aide would never take her out to walk, nor would she share information with her relief health aide or myself. This health aide basically did very little and napped more than my ma. I want to keep this from happening again.…but we don’t pay for this service. What kind of rights do we have, how much of a say-so in selection before anyone is assigned to my mother?
Merrily Orsini was a pioneer in the business of providing geriatric care and managed in-home care. She currently serves on the advisory board of the Private Duty Homecare Association, an arm of the National Association of Home Care and Hospice. She has a master’s degree in social work and is a nationally known writer and speaker on aging, elder issues, and in-home care.
Just because you are not paying for services does not mean that services should not meet industry standards. Following a care plan, being attentive to needs and helping your mother feel safe and secure in her situation are all standards that an agency aide should meet.
Your question states that you are using Medicare-Medicaid for services. These are actually two different programs. Medicare is usually time limited and specific to an acute incident. Medicaid services, however, are usually set based on need, and a specific number of hours is recommended and provided.
To go through 20 aides is troubling, however, and tells me that there are other issues present.
I would suggest having someone from the agency trouble shoot with you as to how to better meet your mother’s needs. Items that might cause problems with staffing are scheduling (perhaps you can be more flexible in request), distance (is the location accessible by public transport; if not perhaps assistance in getting the aide there would help), conditions in the home (the environment must be somewhat comfortable and compatible to the aide as well: is it too hot, stuffy? excessively cluttered? are there pets? does your mother smoke?). Determining what is the cause of the difficulty and working with your mother and the agency to solve that might assist in alleviating the problem, and get the consistency improved.
Veteran’s Aid and Assistance for Widowed Spouse…
Your mother could possibly be eligible for the "non service connected disability pension" through the VA. They do have some criteria that would have to be met:
The Veteran must have served at least 90 days active duty with at least one day during a period of war. He must have an Honorable discharge. (You will need the original discharge papers or a certified copy to send in with the application). She can apply as a surviving spouse as long as she did not remarry after his death.
Her income must be below $12,681 (2009 guidelines). Her income can be ‘reduced’ by qualified medical expenses. Assisted Living can possibly be a medical expense as long as she is paying for services or a "level of care"
Her assets must not be what the VA considers "excessive"
She must need the assistance of another person on a daily basis for activities of daily living such as dressing, bathing, toileting, transfers, medication assistance/reminders, etc.
You don’t necessarily need an attorney to prepare the papers for you. Some assisted living communities work with agencies or organizations that can help so when you talk with the assisted living communities, ask them for referrals. You can also consult with your local VA service officer.
Good luck with your search! Please know that A Place for Mom is a free service for you if you need some help in narrowing down your options for communities for your mother. Our advisors are skilled in helping find the right environment for your mom based on her financial, geographical and care needs.
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