Cathy Cress

Expert in Aging Life and Geriatric Care Management

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What Does Biden’s Infrastructure Plan Do For Family Caregivers?

April 26, 2021

 

What Does Biden’s Caregiver Infrastructure Plan Do For Families?

President Biden’s Caregiver Infrastructure plan will help families -the very infrastructure that supports elders as they age. What do I mean? Currently, 53 million family members provide most of the care that vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities require — without being paid as Medicare does not pay for long-term caregiving.

Family Members Provide Care for No Pay 

There is often a significant financial and emotional cost to these family caregivers. According to AARP, family caregivers on average devote about 24 hours a week to helping loved ones and spend around $7,000 out-of-pocket on that care.

The value of this unpaid labor force is estimated to be at least $306 billion annually, nearly double the combined costs of home health care ($43 billion) and nursing home care ($115 billion)

Medicare Does Not Pay for Custodial CaregivingGCM-pix-3.jpg

Families are shocked when they discover that Medicare does not pay for custodial caregiving or long-term care. This is the type of care that most elders will eventually need as they age. They will pay for short-term care post-hospitalization. So most elders must depend on their families for this care or if they are in the upper 10-15% pay for private duty home care which can run up to $4000-$6000 a month if they need 24-hour care, creating severe inequality in out care infrastructure.

 

Some Family Caregivers Can Be Paid Through Medicaid and the VA

Although family caregivers and actually in-home care is not paid by Medicare, some family caregivers are  paid  through the VA  and  family caregivers supporting a relative on Medicaid 

In the US 1-5  Americans receive Medicaid. which is only available for low-income individuals.VA Homecare is only available to veterans with specific criteria 

 Biden’s Caregiver Program May Help Medicaid Family Caregivers

 

The median salary for these home-care workers, who care for low-income Medicaid recipients, is approximately $17,200 per year, said Leslie Frane, executive vice president at SEIU. This is in large part because the United States pays only limited amounts to states to compensate them for Medicaid care in the home. More than half of home-care workers are on some form of public assistance themselves such as food stamps, Frane said. They are overwhelmingly female and far more likely to be people of color than the general population.

 

Being a Caregiver on Medicaid Comes at a High Personal Cost

Being a caregiver for a family member presents incredible hurdles for all family caregivers but under Medicaid comes at a  high cost. .Caregivers often have to significantly reduce their number of hours working outside the home or leave their jobs entirely in order to provide quality care for their loved one. This means that caregivers are spending hours assisting loved ones with daily tasks, cooking meals, taking them to appointments, ensuring their safety and well-being, and providing companionship, but are not being compensated for their time.

Biden’s Health Care Plan May be Unveiled This Week

As I mentioned in my last blog, there are still few details about how Biden’s Caregiver Infrastructure Bill of $400 million will be allocated. However, there is reason to believe that a large part will go to these family caregivers who support their elderly relatives on Medicaid.

We may get a hint of what and when that will be this week when Biden will discuss changes in Heath care he will include in the will try to include in his American Family Plan.

JOIN ME FOR MY NEW FREE WEBINAR

 

Market Your Agencies Safety as Aging Families Still Fear Raging Pandemic 

When: May 20, 2021, 02:00 PM Pacific Time (the US and Canada)

 

 

Learn to market your safe care management business during the “Semi-Post “Pandemic, to overcome hesitation to use homecare and GCM services as US COVID-19 slowly diminishes,World Wide COVID spikes,US vaccination accelerates yet elders are

not fully vaccinated, US COVID still spikes, variants explode, anti-vaxers abound, vaccines taken off the market and 8000 American still die each day.

 

Understand how to innovatively sell” trust” in your safe care management services so family caregiver’s & 3rd parties choose you as a safe agency

 

Learn to use public relations and marketing to show you are focused on caregiver and care management safety

COVID services by showing you follow the new CDC’s leaderships safe path to safety.

 

YOU WILL LEARN

  • 5 steps to create an e-newsletter with the right copy, to get out the word about your safe COVID 19 services through required COVID protocols

 

 

 

  • 10 steps to set up a Zoom webinar to teach local aging agencies and caregivers about your COVID safe services and other local resources to assist caregivers in the community
  • 7 steps to use social media to alert aging family caregivers to the clear path to your GCM agency provides safety from the diminishing but still present virus in the US.

 

  • 5 steps to get local media coverage of your COVID -19 safe services, care providers, and general excellent care management and home care products free PR with radio and TV coverage plus pick local newspapers where ads may pay off to sell your COVID Products

 

  • 5 steps to understand how to generate word of mouth customers for your COVID -19 safe services using your continuum of care in your community
  • 10 steps to use the powerful new tool of Video to market your agency’s COVID safety and excellent services as the pandemic diminishes but is still in your community, state, and country

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You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: May 20, 2021, 02:00 PM Pacific Time (the US and Canada)
Topic: 5 Steps to Market Your COVID Coaching Service for Aging

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Filed Under: Aging, Aging Life Care, aging life care manager, Biden's Caregiver Bill, Blog, caregiver, Caregiver Infrastructure bill, Caregiver living wage, Caregiver low salary, caregiver mental health, CAREGIVER RESOUCES, Custodial Care, Families, Family Caregiver, Geriatric Care Management Business, Geriatric Care Manager, geriatric social worker, Medicaid, Medicaid caregiver, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, SEIU Tagged With: Biden's Home Care Plan, Biden's Infastructure Bill, Biden's infrastructure- Caregiver Bill, Care infastructure, caregiver burn out, caregivers live in poverty, Custodial caregiving, Family Caregiver Alliance, family caregiver poverty, family caregivers, HCBC, Home Based Community Care, Medicaid, Medicaid & Community Based Care, Medicaid caregivers, PTSD in family caregivers, Uncovered Medicare Services, unpaid family caregivers

California Cuts Pushing Frail Elders into the Cesspools of COViD-19

May 22, 2020

Here in California, the frailest, poorest and oldest in the state are being potentially knifed in the back by slashing budget cuts to the very services that keep them out of nursing homes.

 The Multipurpose Senior Services Program , one of the first geriatric care management programs in the nation, designed to keep fail elders out of nursing homes, is set to axed from the California State budget.

The Governor has also proposed elimination of $2.9 million of state funding and $3.9 million in federal matching funds for the 11 statewide Caregiver Resource Centers, 

providing critical respite care and counseling to caregivers of adults with chronic and disabling health conditions.images_20130906-154817_1.jpg

Both programs were designed 4 decades ago to keep elders at home and out of more expensive nursing homes and staunch family caregiver burnout. They offer huge safety nets, designed to keep frail seniors in the community.

MSSP is of a daycare program providing rich social and health services to frail elders and their families. The Care Resources Program caregiver respite and support to overwhelmed family caregivers.

These programs save the state a bundle of money. Each of the MSSP clients is disabled enough to be eligible for nursing homes and poor enough to be eligible for MediCal. So instead of the state paying $80,000 or $90,000 per person per year in a nursing home, the State pays only on average a little over $5,000 for the person to be in GunnDadJacket.jpgMSSP.This makes the cuts both fiscally stupid and mystifying.

What California government is doing is ripping giant holes in this web plummeting 45,000 seniors into the cesspool of COVID-19 skilled nursing facilities, where almost  half of California COVID-19 deaths occured.

 Without the services and supports available through MSSP, and the Caregiver Resource Center, many older Californians will have no other choice but to be admitted to nursing homes, where nearly half of all deaths related to COVID-19 have occurred. 

But the doors may be barred. Given the high risk of COVID-19 in nursing homes, owners are reluctant to take new patients. So, the elimination of the Caregiver Resources Center and  MSSP is really a death sentence to frail elders. It leaves no fire extinguisher for caregiver burnout of the family caregivers who care for elders with the toughest disease: brain impairment- Alzheimer’s, stroke, dementia, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s other conditions that may cause memory loss or confusion.

This may cause a cascade effect- placement of these horribly demented elders, into the plague-infested nursing home or also to death’s doorKali--Bill-Connies-book-.JPG

Governor Newsome has been a national hero as the first governor to issue a stay at home order to close counties down in California. He slowed the spread of coronavirus and kept California in a safe zone compared to most other states. But this was at the cost of taxpayer dollars as 4.7 Californians were put out of work. 

 He finds himself in a double bind now with a chasm of a budget hole, that he is trying up to fill with cuts like the ones proposed to the senior program. But the cuts will lead seniors to nursing homes  costing $80,000 a year instead of the $5000 for MSSP  into those caldrons of coronavirus

California is always the canary in the coal mine- the innovator that most states follow. So, these cuts can be expected across the nationwide. Who is the real villain in these cuts, the Trump Presidency. 875 billion was approved in the House of representatives in the HEROES Act. Cutting both programs saves $119 million. But these cuts would be eliminated if Congress OKs this aid for state and local governments — a prospect many state lawmakers believe is unlikely as President Trump is threatening to veto the money to the states . This has spurred a cacophony of outrage from local legislators and senior advocates. angered state lawmakers from both 

major political parties who say it’s irresponsible in light of the coronavirus pandemic that has spread through nursing homes across the state. It’s one of many conflicts emerging this week as lawmakers hold public hearings examining Newsom’s proposal before they must vote on a spending plan by June 15.

Want to help save these programs

 

PUBLIC COMMENTS – WRITTEN: Submit written public comments by email to: sbud.committee@sen.ca.gov

Filed Under: Adult children, Aging, Aging Family, aging family crisis, Aging Life Care Assocaition, Blog, Caregiver Burn Out, caregiver burnout, caregiver mental health, CAREGIVER RESOUCES, case manager, Coronavirus emergency plan, coronavirus shut down, Covid 19, Covid-19 Nursing Home, Dementia Activities, elder care manager, Families, geriatric care manager, MSSP cuts in California, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, quality of life in senior centers, SNF death COVID-19 Tagged With: aging family, aging life care manager, aging parent crisis, barrier to caregiver assessment, California Budget cuts for seniors, california caregiver resource center, caregiver burden, caregiver depression, case manager, Cuts to programs for frail elders, Family Caregiver Alliance, geriatric care manager, MSSP cuts in California, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, Trump veto

How Do You Help Family Caregiver with Adult Siblings?

February 4, 2015

images_20130906-154817_1.jpg

 

Emotional resources can link a circle of care for the direct family caregiver. These emotional supports could and should include adult siblings  .Siblings are the longest and deepest relationship in any person’s life. Reconnecting midlife or aging brother’s and sisters, through the circle of care, is a critical GCM task but to achieve this, the care manager may have to depend his clinical skills in helping siblings with forgiveness or reconnecting siblings who live long distance.

Mrs. Handy finally got support from  from her siblings, after the care manager, had a family meeting about the care of their Dad.

Midlife siblings have often spent the last 30 years tending to their own families .So the point of reconnection with middle aged brothers and sisters often happens when they are still working or retiring yet thrown into a crisis in parent care.

This is where the GCM either needs to have clinical skills to can help with healing this sibling reconnection  ( like moderating a family meeting at the same time finding  the resources for the family. If the family is dysfunctional, the resources might include a mediator who specializes in aging families  or a Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in Aging  (hard to find)

 

Filed Under: Aging Tagged With: caregiver assessment, Family Caregiver Alliance, geriatric care manager, Marriage and Family Therapists

No Family Caregiver is Wonderwoman

January 24, 2015

wonder.woman.05.jpg

Filed Under: Aging Tagged With: caregiver assessment, caregiver burnout, family caregiver, Family Caregiver Alliance, geriatric care manager

Connecting a Functional, Family and Caregiver Assessment

March 10, 2013

PDF-Cover-of-11-10-12My-Geriatric-Care-Management-Agency.jpg

 

How do you combine assessments? Let’s again take a caregiver assessment and functional assessment. In your functional assessment you have found the older client has a self-care deficit. They have a family caregiver yet their clothes are dirty and they are not being bathed on a regular basis. When you do your caregiver assessment you find that the family caregiver, the aging spouse, is not only depressed but also burnt out. They have been caring for the husband for 7 months are exhausted and skipped critical care giving tasks. Adult children are aware of this and called you, the geriatric care manager or aging professional, to do a geriatric assessment. You can list both older client self-care deficit, caregiver burnout and need for informal support (the adult children) as problems in your care plan. You can also list need for formal support –(a caregiver support group, a private duty home care agency) as a problems in your care plan. You are calling attention multiple main problems – why they need a caregiver, the problems with the caregiver and extended family in a brief, through, and connected list in your care plan. This is just what you need in a care plan under problems. You have derived the problems from two separate assessments yet connected them in the care plan.

Filed Under: Aging Tagged With: aging parent, aging parent care, aging parent crisis, assessing the caregiver, care plan, care plan as saftey net, care planning, caregiver assessment, caregiver burden, caregiver overload, caregiver overwhelm, caregiver stress, caregiving family members, checklist for aging parent problems, depression, Family Caregiver Alliance, family caregivers, Functional Assessment, geraitric assessment, geraitric care manager, geriatric care managers, informal caregiver, merging care plans, My Geraitric Care Management Operations Manual, National Assocaition of Geraitric Care Managers, National Association of Geriatric Care Managers, unpaid family caregivers

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