We are shifting the way we're delivering health to seniors by bringing care to their communities so people can stay at home longer, surrounded by loved ones and where they are most comfortable,"
1. "Providing rides to appointments and the innovative programs announced today, as well as increased home care and other supports, provides greater access to care for tens of thousands of seniors and at the same time builds stronger communities throughout Massachusetts Local seniors assistance in a variety of areas, including caregiver support and education, supportive housing, transportation and meals, physical activity, wellness and preventive care and reducing isolation.
Programs range from helping elderly homeless men make the transition to permanent housing to helping ensure seniors are released from hospital sooner by providing a home caregiver to assist with medications, groceries and connecting them to community agencies
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Independent Living in our own Neighborhood
I would like to see this is a part of a Geratric Service with the cooperation of all the non profits serving the Malden Seniors and their families in assuring good caregiving and promised services not only to our residents in subsidized housing but throughout the City.
WE also need the cooperation of our elected City Council as well as the executive deparrments of the Cities, businesses and the activist citizens in our community.
Declaration of Independents
By: Barbara Basler Source: AARP Bulletin Today Date Posted:
Suzanne Stark, 79, lives in a book-lined apartment in central Boston's lovely Beacon Hill neighborhood. Independent and active, the author and freelance writer nevertheless acknowledges there are times when problems arise and she needs help. Like when her beloved cat Zenobia became suddenly, violently ill, and Stark couldn't get her into a carrier to take her to the veterinarian.
"I tried everything, and then I called Beacon Hill Village," she says. "I said, 'I know this is weird, but can you send someone to help me get this cat in the carrier?' And they did."
Beacon Hill Village is a revolutionary, all-encompassing concierge service created by residents who want to grow old in the homes they have lived in for years.
Now, they can do that, confident that even as they age they can deal with almost any contingency, large or small, without relying on relatives or friends. To preserve their independence, they can turn to the village, as the nonprofit association is known, which helps its 320 members find virtually any service they need—from 24-hour nursing care to help with a wayward cat, often at a discounted fee.
Their innovation is so appealing that a national expert on aging at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology asserts it could well change the way Americans—and the rest of the world—grow old. "The assisted living and the die-with-a-golf-club-in-your-hand communities had better take notice," says Joseph Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab, a think tank on aging.
This fresh concept is already attracting attention far beyond the quaint cobblestone walkways of Beacon Hill. In the three years since it started, the village has received more than 200 inquiries—from places as diverse as Manhattan and Las Vegas.
The group's grassroots creators are now writing a how-to manual so others can replicate the village in their own neighborhoods. And MIT is working on a plan of the concept that could be used around the world.
"With Beacon Hill Village you have life, you don't have retirement," Coughlin says. The village not only links members to carefully vetted personal trainers, caterers, house cleaners, plumbers and computer advisers, it also offers them a number of free benefits such as weekly car service to the grocery. Other free benefits include monthly lectures by notable Bostonians, exercise classes and special health clinics—all activities that take place in neighborhood churches, schools and a community center.
The village hasn't yet had a request it couldn't help fill, says Judy Willett, the social worker hired to direct the association and its two other full-time employees. "We even had a member in the hospital call and ask us to find someone to pick up her betting slips at the track. And we did," she says.
"We wanted everything you'd find in a retirement community or assisted living—but we wanted these services in our own homes," explains Susan McWhinney-Morse, 72, the president of Beacon Hill Village, who was one of the 12 residents who helped create it. "We didn't want to leave the neighborhood we love."
Village founder and member J. Atwood "Woody" Ives, 69, says, "Even the places they call active retirement communities tend to be depressing. They're so artificial—everybody there is old."
But, he says, by staying in his own neighborhood, "I see college students, couples, young families, old people. There is a great mix here, and I think that adds to the quality of life."
Any neighborhood resident age 50 or older can join the village. Its members include retirees in their 90s as well as working people in their 50s and 60s.
"The younger ones join because they like the convenience of our services or they need help caring for a parent who lives with them," Willett says. "They want to support Beacon Hill Village, make sure it will be there as they age."
Membership costs $550 a year per person, $750 a year per couple and $100 a year for lower-income residents, who also get a $250 credit toward services. And the village has people who charge as little as $15 an hour for odd jobs.
The woman the village sent to help Suzanne Stark with Zenobia spent all afternoon with them—driving Stark and her cat to the vet, waiting, then driving them to the animal hospital and finally home. "That saved Zenobia's life," Stark says. The cost of the service: $35.
In many cases remaining at home and using the village's à la carte services is much cheaper than assisted living, Willett says. If, however, someone becomes ill enough to need 24-hour care or other expensive services, the total costs probably will equal those of a nursing home, "but with one big difference: You are in your own home."
Village employees not only provide information and referrals, they telephone members to check that each job was completed satisfactorily.
Although members are entitled to highly personalized attention, the tiny staff—operating out of a one-room neighborhood office—has never been overwhelmed because only about a third of the members call the village frequently. Another third use it now and then, while the remainder draw mainly on its social offerings—lectures, weekly lunches in a local restaurant and day trips to places like the Newport Jazz Festival.
"The social aspect is the secret sauce here," says MIT's Coughlin. "Just bringing services to your door doesn't ensure a good life. People, especially older people living alone, need to be engaged, they need reasons to go out, to be a part of a community. And the village works to give them that."
The core group of 12 residents laid the groundwork for the project with meticulous research, drawing up a business plan, vetting and recruiting a number of businesses and health providers, all of them eager to have a reliable stream of customers. Two key concerns joined their effort early and helped anchor it—Harvard Medical School's Massachusetts General Hospital and HouseWorks, a Boston home services company.
The gifted amateur organizers, however, were canny enough to realize they needed help. By donating their own money and raising contributions from others in the neighborhood who believed in the idea, they hired professionals to help market the village concept to residents. They also approached several foundations for money for the subsidized memberships.
The village still relies on foundations and support from board members and the community, but membership is growing by about eight new members a month.
"Membership fees pay for about 50 percent of our expenses, and within a year we think that will rise to 60 percent," Willett says.
The leafy streets of Beacon Hill are lined with 19th-century townhouses where people such as Henry James and Louisa May Alcott once lived. Today's residents live in a dense mix of fine homes, imposing apartment buildings, condos and even subsidized housing for older people, but they still tend to be well heeled and well educated. Can their aging solution really be transplanted to other, very different communities?
Yes, says Coughlin, because innovations "always start at the top, rather than the middle or the bottom. Of all the ideas we've seen here at the AgeLab, this one has got a better chance of going mainstream than many others."
Establishing this city-bred idea in the suburbs and beyond may actually be easier "because the cost of living, the cost of services is much less expensive there than here," says Sue Bridge, 66, one of the founders who, with help from alumni volunteers from Harvard University's School of Business, wrote the village's business plan.
Coughlin points out that "some of the best-knit communities in America are not in the city but in the country, in rural agricultural areas where institutions of faith often organize services and contacts for people."
Transportation in the suburbs or exurban areas could be an issue, but he does not see it as an insurmountable problem. "You have to think creatively," he says. "Missoula, Montana, for example, uses its airport shuttles in the off-peak hours to ferry older residents where they want to go and to take families to visit relatives in nursing homes."
"What we need," Coughlin says, "are folks with the passion to work these things out." Those people may be in a neighborhood association or they may be entrepreneurs "who see an explosion of disposable income and a demand for services that needs to be met."
One of the biggest obstacles to this effort to change the way people age has been the residents themselves. Village research shows that of the 13,000 people in the Beacon Hill area, 14 percent are age 60 or older, and some of these people were the most resistant.
"We couldn't believe all of the people we approached about joining who told us, 'That's a great idea, but I'm not ready yet,' " says board member Ives. "These were people in their 80s and 90s. People just hate to admit they need any kind of help."
Instead, "too many deal with aging by cutting back on where they go and when, what they do, who they see," says Bridge. "Their lives become more and more constricted. When they join the village, suddenly life opens up again."
One resident who initially resisted the village is now a booster. "They treat me like a queen," says Dorothy Weinstein, 97, who recently signed up for a village trip to New Hampshire to see the fall leaves. "They've been a saving grace."
She uses the village grocery service and calls the office when she needs an escort to her clinic appointments. The village even has volunteers who accompany her on neighborhood walks.
A resident of Beacon Hill for 53 years, still living in the house where she and her late husband raised their sons, Weinstein wouldn't think of moving.
"Where would I be as content as I am here?" she asks. "I look out my window at the park. I see people passing. I talk to old neighbors I know. This is the way I want things."
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Sunday, May 4, 2008
Caregivers can receive aid relief for care of elderly, disabled
Families will soon be able to act as paid caregivers for relatives – including parents – who need intense in-home medical care, under a new MassHealth plan.
The MassHealth Adult Family Care Program matches individuals who need assistance with activities of daily living with host families who provide those services in a home setting. Services can include assistance with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, incontinence management and other personal care.
The new Enhanced MassHealth Adult Family Care program will soon be able to meet the needs of individuals requiring a higher level of care by broadening the spectrum of caregivers who are eligible to participate.
Families, or hosts, as they are called in the program, receive about $18,000 to provide care that prevents or delays institutional care.
“People express a clear preference for being cared for in a home setting,” said John O’Neill, executive director of Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services, which provides the program in a number of communities in Greater Boston. “Enhanced Adult Family Care is a wonderful option for MassHealth beneficiaries who would like to receive care from a loved one in a home setting.”
The program allows children to be paid caregivers for their parents. The Enhanced Adult Family Care program will not only allow elders and persons with disabilities to move into a caregiver’s home, but will allow a caregiver to move into the individual’s home. Participants must be 16 years or older and meet MassHealth financial and clinical eligibility standards. Caregivers may be any friend or family member other than a spouse, parent, or legally responsible relative and must meet qualifications specified by the state.
MassHealth pays for Enhanced Adult Family Care if an individual is financially eligible for MassHealth and requires physical assistance with at least three of the following activities: bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, ambulating, eating; or, physical assistance with two of the activities above and management of behaviors that require caregiver intervention such as wandering, verbally abusive behavioral symptoms, physically abusive behavioral symptoms, socially inappropriate or disruptive behavioral symptoms, or resisting care.
For more information, call the SCES Aging Information Center at 617-628-2601 ext. 3151.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Home Care Site
Published as service in the Malden Observer.
Ross Capobianco is president of Home Instead Senior Care, a provider of home care services to seniors living north of Boston. He can be reached at 781-662-2273 or via e-mail at bostonnorth@homeinstead.com.
Ross Capobianco is president of Home Instead Senior Care, a provider of home care services to seniors living north of Boston. He can be reached at 781-662-2273 or via e-mail at bostonnorth@homeinstead.com.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Long Term Care Insurance
Baby boomers beware: The safety net you might be relying on to take care of you when you're old and sick is full of holes, a new study warns.
Many are relying on Medicaid, the government's health-care program for the needy, to pick up the tab for their nursing home and other long-term care expenses one day.
But there's a catch: Medicaid won't cover long-term care until your own resources are exhausted, warns Jeffrey Brown, director of the Center on Business and Public Policy at the University of Illinois College of Business and a co-author of the study.
"Medicaid basically forces you to impoverish yourself before it will pay for long-term care," he said. "Then you come out of care, and you've got nothing left."
What's more, the study contends, the government is encouraging people to rely on Medicaid by loading the program with disincentives to buy private long-term care insurance – which would be a better option because it protects assets and provides broader coverage.
Brown said economists have been puzzled about why so many Americans spurn long-term care insurance when they typically insure themselves against other financially damaging events and they face about a 40 percent chance of needing care in a nursing home one day.
"And if they need it, it can be financially devastating for many families, because a nursing home can cost $60,000 or $70,000 a year," he said.
As it turns out, the study found, Medicaid is choking the demand for private insurance because people prefer bad benefits at no charge to good benefits they'd have to buy.
And even for those who want private insurance, Medicaid makes it "not a good deal" for many, Brown said.
Once the benefits Medicaid picks up for free are factored in, the net benefits of long-term care insurance are just 20 cents to 40 cents on every dollar spent on private coverage premiums, the study found.
Another disincentive: Medicaid is a secondary payer, meaning it pays only after a private policy has paid first. So even when people do invest in private coverage, they might still end up exhausting all their resources.
"It will just take them longer to do so," Brown said.
Why not just rely on Medicaid, then?
Because it's not free. Taxpayers are footing $135 billion worth of long-term care expenses a year through Medicaid, and the burden can only grow as more baby boomers age, the study points out.
If there's a good way out of this conundrum, Brown said he hasn't found one yet.
The country could eliminate Medicaid coverage and let taxpayers spend their money on their own long-term care coverage, but there will always be people who won't have coverage and won't be able to afford nursing home care, Brown said.
"Are we as a society prepared to tell these people, 'You didn't insure, you didn't save enough, you're on your own?' I don't think this country is prepared to do that," he said.
Should Medicare, the government's health program for the elderly, take over long-term care expenses?
Talk about really breaking the federal budget, Brown said.
"We've already got under-funded (Medicare) benefits," he added.
Should the government require people to purchase long-term care insurance?
How could that be enforced? Brown said.
"One of the difficult things about this study is we've identified a very difficult public policy problem for which there is not an obvious solution," he said.
The nation's long-term care insurance industry is a bit more optimistic that more Americans will buy policies.
Some 400,000 long-term care policies were purchased last year, says Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance.
"It's growing slowly and steadily," he contends.
Last year, long-term care insurers paid out $3.5 billion in claims, about $200 million more than 2006, Slome said. As more people have positive experiences with this kind of coverage, he predicts more will want to buy it.
But it's going to take time. Before the baby boomer generation, the elderly lived closer to their children and didn't need to rely so heavily on nursing home care. People didn't live quite so long, either, Slome said.
"Prior generations didn't have to think about long-term care," he added.
Slome thinks the real impediment to buying long-term care insurance is human nature: Many folks just aren't good planners, and they procrastinate.
"The fact of the matter is, first of all, people don't live their lives planning to go on welfare. They live their lives without planning, but nobody who's 65 looks and says, 'Gee, I've worked my whole life. I was independent. I saved. I had a retirement plan. I did everything I was supposed to, and in my last years, I want to go on welfare to see what it's really like,'" he said.
The long-term care industry's challenge is to convince more people to start thinking about the costs of nursing home care before they become so old, or their health deteriorates so much, that insurance is going to be prohibitively expensive, he said.
Nearly 45 percent of people applying for long-term care coverage in their 50s qualify for good health discounts, but only about 19 percent of those who wait to apply in their 70s qualify for these discounts, a 2006 report done by Slome's association found.
Another challenge may be today's economy.
Slome said a single person at age 55 can buy decent long-term care coverage for about $1,000 a year, and a married couple at that age can buy decent coverage for both people at about $1,300 a year.
But with the rising cost of health care, many people are finding it difficult enough to pay for insurance they need right now, let alone pay for coverage they may need in their golden years.
Slome's advice for getting the best deal: Work with a professional who can find you the best long-term care insurance coverage for your needs and lock in the rates. The price of coverage varies widely, and every company has its own premium rate sweet spot depending on the client's age, marital status and health status, he said.
"Medicare and Medicaid are already strapped, and it's only going to get worse," Slome warned. "The government can only tax so much."
Should you buy long-term coverage?
It depends on what you've got to lose, says Paul McNamara, a professor and Extension specialist at the University of Illinois Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics.
His advice:
— Consider buying coverage if you can afford it and want to have assets to leave your heirs or a surviving spouse.
— Know the premiums are more reasonable before you become elderly and fall into poor health. But keep in mind when you buy coverage younger that you're going to have to keep up the premium payments for a long time.
— Don't neglect the bigger picture: Consider long-term care insurance as part of your overall retirement planning. It wouldn't make sense to pay for a long-term care policy if you can't afford to fund your retirement savings.
— When it's not a good deal: If your income is anywhere near Medicaid eligibility level, you don't have a lot of assets now and likely won't have enough assets at retirement to protect.
Find this article at: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/2008/04/13/seniors_warned_about_longterm_care
Comments
Many are relying on Medicaid, the government's health-care program for the needy, to pick up the tab for their nursing home and other long-term care expenses one day.
But there's a catch: Medicaid won't cover long-term care until your own resources are exhausted, warns Jeffrey Brown, director of the Center on Business and Public Policy at the University of Illinois College of Business and a co-author of the study.
"Medicaid basically forces you to impoverish yourself before it will pay for long-term care," he said. "Then you come out of care, and you've got nothing left."
What's more, the study contends, the government is encouraging people to rely on Medicaid by loading the program with disincentives to buy private long-term care insurance – which would be a better option because it protects assets and provides broader coverage.
Brown said economists have been puzzled about why so many Americans spurn long-term care insurance when they typically insure themselves against other financially damaging events and they face about a 40 percent chance of needing care in a nursing home one day.
"And if they need it, it can be financially devastating for many families, because a nursing home can cost $60,000 or $70,000 a year," he said.
As it turns out, the study found, Medicaid is choking the demand for private insurance because people prefer bad benefits at no charge to good benefits they'd have to buy.
And even for those who want private insurance, Medicaid makes it "not a good deal" for many, Brown said.
Once the benefits Medicaid picks up for free are factored in, the net benefits of long-term care insurance are just 20 cents to 40 cents on every dollar spent on private coverage premiums, the study found.
Another disincentive: Medicaid is a secondary payer, meaning it pays only after a private policy has paid first. So even when people do invest in private coverage, they might still end up exhausting all their resources.
"It will just take them longer to do so," Brown said.
Why not just rely on Medicaid, then?
Because it's not free. Taxpayers are footing $135 billion worth of long-term care expenses a year through Medicaid, and the burden can only grow as more baby boomers age, the study points out.
If there's a good way out of this conundrum, Brown said he hasn't found one yet.
The country could eliminate Medicaid coverage and let taxpayers spend their money on their own long-term care coverage, but there will always be people who won't have coverage and won't be able to afford nursing home care, Brown said.
"Are we as a society prepared to tell these people, 'You didn't insure, you didn't save enough, you're on your own?' I don't think this country is prepared to do that," he said.
Should Medicare, the government's health program for the elderly, take over long-term care expenses?
Talk about really breaking the federal budget, Brown said.
"We've already got under-funded (Medicare) benefits," he added.
Should the government require people to purchase long-term care insurance?
How could that be enforced? Brown said.
"One of the difficult things about this study is we've identified a very difficult public policy problem for which there is not an obvious solution," he said.
The nation's long-term care insurance industry is a bit more optimistic that more Americans will buy policies.
Some 400,000 long-term care policies were purchased last year, says Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance.
"It's growing slowly and steadily," he contends.
Last year, long-term care insurers paid out $3.5 billion in claims, about $200 million more than 2006, Slome said. As more people have positive experiences with this kind of coverage, he predicts more will want to buy it.
But it's going to take time. Before the baby boomer generation, the elderly lived closer to their children and didn't need to rely so heavily on nursing home care. People didn't live quite so long, either, Slome said.
"Prior generations didn't have to think about long-term care," he added.
Slome thinks the real impediment to buying long-term care insurance is human nature: Many folks just aren't good planners, and they procrastinate.
"The fact of the matter is, first of all, people don't live their lives planning to go on welfare. They live their lives without planning, but nobody who's 65 looks and says, 'Gee, I've worked my whole life. I was independent. I saved. I had a retirement plan. I did everything I was supposed to, and in my last years, I want to go on welfare to see what it's really like,'" he said.
The long-term care industry's challenge is to convince more people to start thinking about the costs of nursing home care before they become so old, or their health deteriorates so much, that insurance is going to be prohibitively expensive, he said.
Nearly 45 percent of people applying for long-term care coverage in their 50s qualify for good health discounts, but only about 19 percent of those who wait to apply in their 70s qualify for these discounts, a 2006 report done by Slome's association found.
Another challenge may be today's economy.
Slome said a single person at age 55 can buy decent long-term care coverage for about $1,000 a year, and a married couple at that age can buy decent coverage for both people at about $1,300 a year.
But with the rising cost of health care, many people are finding it difficult enough to pay for insurance they need right now, let alone pay for coverage they may need in their golden years.
Slome's advice for getting the best deal: Work with a professional who can find you the best long-term care insurance coverage for your needs and lock in the rates. The price of coverage varies widely, and every company has its own premium rate sweet spot depending on the client's age, marital status and health status, he said.
"Medicare and Medicaid are already strapped, and it's only going to get worse," Slome warned. "The government can only tax so much."
Should you buy long-term coverage?
It depends on what you've got to lose, says Paul McNamara, a professor and Extension specialist at the University of Illinois Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics.
His advice:
— Consider buying coverage if you can afford it and want to have assets to leave your heirs or a surviving spouse.
— Know the premiums are more reasonable before you become elderly and fall into poor health. But keep in mind when you buy coverage younger that you're going to have to keep up the premium payments for a long time.
— Don't neglect the bigger picture: Consider long-term care insurance as part of your overall retirement planning. It wouldn't make sense to pay for a long-term care policy if you can't afford to fund your retirement savings.
— When it's not a good deal: If your income is anywhere near Medicaid eligibility level, you don't have a lot of assets now and likely won't have enough assets at retirement to protect.
Find this article at: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/2008/04/13/seniors_warned_about_longterm_care
Comments
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Caregivers Family
Elder Law: Keeping mom at home
By By Ronald Surabian/Elder Law Center
Thu Mar 20, 2008, 02:16 PM EDT
Malden -
Malden - Let’s face it: no one wants to go to a nursing home.
For elders who have supportive families, this is sometimes possible. Today I want to talk about something called Enhanced Group Foster Care. It is a program offered by the Commonwealth that will compensate family members for taking care of their mom or dad. It is aimed at children who either move in with their parent, or have their parent move in with them, instead of going to a nursing home.
The caregiver who accepts this responsibility will receive up to $50 per day, or about $18,000 per year for caring for their parent. As a bonus, this income is non-taxable under section 131 of the Internal Revenue Code, as qualified foster care payments. These payments are for 24-hour care of the senior, but the child can get a break from their caregiver duties for up to 14 days per year under the respite care program.
This would provide a break to the caregiver for a vacation. And, if the senior is willing, there are adult day care programs that provide care at a senior day care facility so that the child can have free time during the week to work, shop or do as they please, knowing that their parent is safe, and being taken care of.
Who Is Eligible
Elders, or disabled adult family members over the age of 16, that need assistance with three Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s), and are financially eligible for MassHealth (Medicaid in Massachusetts) are eligible. Activities of daily living are bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring (this means from bed to wheelchair), ambulating, and eating. Elders who are wandering, verbally or physically abusive, resisting care, or have socially inappropriate or disruptive symptoms only need help with two activities of daily living to qualify. Elders who need less care can also be eligible for this program, however, their caregiver pay is reduced.
Who is Eligible To Be A Caregiver
The program pays family, or non-family caregivers to care for an elder or adult disabled family member over the age of 16. Spouses, and legal guardians are NOT eligible to be paid caregivers under this program. The most common caregivers are children and siblings.
I spoke with Linda Morreale-Steele, a registered nurse and program director for North Region of Caregiver Homes of Massachusetts. Caregiver Homes is an approved Adult Foster Care Program and provides services throughout Massachusetts.
“This program is all about choice,” she said. “It gives elders who could be in a nursing home an option that was previously unavailable.”
Caregiver Homes starts by assessing the elder and developing a care plan and maintaining contact through regular telephone calls and home visits. They also provide continuing education and training to the caregiver to stay current with the changing needs of the seniors.
The elder’s health status is also monitored by daily notes taken by the caregiver and entered into a computer program that connects to Caregiver Homes through the internet. These notes are monitored by an registered nurse and care manager on a daily basis.
When a family member is not available, Caregiver Homes recruits, and trains non-family members to provide care to the senior. For more information, call the placement coordinator for Caregiver Homes at (866) 797-2333.
This article gives general information and not specific advice on individual matters. Persons wanting individualized advice on matters discussed should contact an advisor experienced in those matters. To the extent this article provides information on legal matters, it is based on law in effect in Massachusetts on the date of posting (laws in effect in other states are often quite different).
Ronald H. Surabian is a CPA and attorney who works at the Elder Law Center in Saugus. He also holds Masters in accounting and a master’s degree in tax law. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.
If you have any questions please call me at the Elder Law Center, One Essex Street, Saugus, MA 01906 (781)233-4444. To view this or any prior article, please visit www.elderlawcenter.org
Comments (1)
malden senior
2008-03-20T18:31:53
Report Abuse
On the face of it this sounds great until you realize you must become a pauper (spending down or give away assets) get on Medicaid (with a wait for approval) apply asking for help from a agency (like Mystic Valley Elders) get on a waiting list and hope for a long awaited phone Call
By By Ronald Surabian/Elder Law Center
Thu Mar 20, 2008, 02:16 PM EDT
Malden -
Malden - Let’s face it: no one wants to go to a nursing home.
For elders who have supportive families, this is sometimes possible. Today I want to talk about something called Enhanced Group Foster Care. It is a program offered by the Commonwealth that will compensate family members for taking care of their mom or dad. It is aimed at children who either move in with their parent, or have their parent move in with them, instead of going to a nursing home.
The caregiver who accepts this responsibility will receive up to $50 per day, or about $18,000 per year for caring for their parent. As a bonus, this income is non-taxable under section 131 of the Internal Revenue Code, as qualified foster care payments. These payments are for 24-hour care of the senior, but the child can get a break from their caregiver duties for up to 14 days per year under the respite care program.
This would provide a break to the caregiver for a vacation. And, if the senior is willing, there are adult day care programs that provide care at a senior day care facility so that the child can have free time during the week to work, shop or do as they please, knowing that their parent is safe, and being taken care of.
Who Is Eligible
Elders, or disabled adult family members over the age of 16, that need assistance with three Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s), and are financially eligible for MassHealth (Medicaid in Massachusetts) are eligible. Activities of daily living are bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring (this means from bed to wheelchair), ambulating, and eating. Elders who are wandering, verbally or physically abusive, resisting care, or have socially inappropriate or disruptive symptoms only need help with two activities of daily living to qualify. Elders who need less care can also be eligible for this program, however, their caregiver pay is reduced.
Who is Eligible To Be A Caregiver
The program pays family, or non-family caregivers to care for an elder or adult disabled family member over the age of 16. Spouses, and legal guardians are NOT eligible to be paid caregivers under this program. The most common caregivers are children and siblings.
I spoke with Linda Morreale-Steele, a registered nurse and program director for North Region of Caregiver Homes of Massachusetts. Caregiver Homes is an approved Adult Foster Care Program and provides services throughout Massachusetts.
“This program is all about choice,” she said. “It gives elders who could be in a nursing home an option that was previously unavailable.”
Caregiver Homes starts by assessing the elder and developing a care plan and maintaining contact through regular telephone calls and home visits. They also provide continuing education and training to the caregiver to stay current with the changing needs of the seniors.
The elder’s health status is also monitored by daily notes taken by the caregiver and entered into a computer program that connects to Caregiver Homes through the internet. These notes are monitored by an registered nurse and care manager on a daily basis.
When a family member is not available, Caregiver Homes recruits, and trains non-family members to provide care to the senior. For more information, call the placement coordinator for Caregiver Homes at (866) 797-2333.
This article gives general information and not specific advice on individual matters. Persons wanting individualized advice on matters discussed should contact an advisor experienced in those matters. To the extent this article provides information on legal matters, it is based on law in effect in Massachusetts on the date of posting (laws in effect in other states are often quite different).
Ronald H. Surabian is a CPA and attorney who works at the Elder Law Center in Saugus. He also holds Masters in accounting and a master’s degree in tax law. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.
If you have any questions please call me at the Elder Law Center, One Essex Street, Saugus, MA 01906 (781)233-4444. To view this or any prior article, please visit www.elderlawcenter.org
Comments (1)
malden senior
2008-03-20T18:31:53
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On the face of it this sounds great until you realize you must become a pauper (spending down or give away assets) get on Medicaid (with a wait for approval) apply asking for help from a agency (like Mystic Valley Elders) get on a waiting list and hope for a long awaited phone Call
Friday, March 14, 2008
News Release MVES executive director
Malden - Senior Notes
Locals rally at State House for elder independence
Local seniors and members of organizations that support elder independence converged on the Statehouse on Tuesday, Feb. 26, to tell legislators that elders should have a choice when it comes to long-term care services.
The group of more than 300, including 25 people from the Mystic Valley area, said that the state continues to be overly reliant on nursing home care when most elders want to live independently in their own homes.
“We invest 66 percent of our MassHealth long-term care dollars in nursing homes,” said Mystic Valley Elder Services Executive Director Dan O’Leary. “Yet our official state policy is ‘Community First.’ It’s time to rearrange our budget to reflect what seniors want: care at home. Let the money follow the person back home.”
To emphasize the needed shift in funding, group members waved “Deval Dollars” in support of the governor’s plan to “rebalance” money from nursing homes to community-care programs. Legislators were urged to implement the Equal Choice law, passed in 2006, that guarantees seniors live in the “least restrictive setting” possible.
Silver Legislator Senate President Sally Hoyt also spoke about the importance of independence for elders. The rally took place while lawmakers prepare the Fiscal 2009 budget.
Locals rally at State House for elder independence
Local seniors and members of organizations that support elder independence converged on the Statehouse on Tuesday, Feb. 26, to tell legislators that elders should have a choice when it comes to long-term care services.
The group of more than 300, including 25 people from the Mystic Valley area, said that the state continues to be overly reliant on nursing home care when most elders want to live independently in their own homes.
“We invest 66 percent of our MassHealth long-term care dollars in nursing homes,” said Mystic Valley Elder Services Executive Director Dan O’Leary. “Yet our official state policy is ‘Community First.’ It’s time to rearrange our budget to reflect what seniors want: care at home. Let the money follow the person back home.”
To emphasize the needed shift in funding, group members waved “Deval Dollars” in support of the governor’s plan to “rebalance” money from nursing homes to community-care programs. Legislators were urged to implement the Equal Choice law, passed in 2006, that guarantees seniors live in the “least restrictive setting” possible.
Silver Legislator Senate President Sally Hoyt also spoke about the importance of independence for elders. The rally took place while lawmakers prepare the Fiscal 2009 budget.
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