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My mother is 95 and semi-mobile but needs help dressing, bathing, exercising etc. She cannot live by herself so she lives with my husband and me. We were charging 1350.00 per month but things have gone up (food, gas etc.) so we are thinking about raising the amount to $2000.00-2500.00. Do you think this is fair and I would be interested in finding out what others, in my situation, pay.
Thank you.

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Reasonable is minimum wage x hours of actual care. So lets say $8 per hour and 8 hours of care. $64 per day x30 days = $1920 per month. Don't forget to do the payroll taxes and declare the income. If you don't report the income, Medicaid considers the money a gift.
Let's say you opt to take it as a gift. Five years from now she needs a Nursing Home, and she applies for Medicaid. Medicaid will impose a penalty for gifting. That would be $1920 x 60months=$115,200 penalty. That means Medicaid will not pay for the first $115,200 in Nursing Home bills. So you get to keep mom, forever.
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I get paid $400 per week. However, I live in their home. I do pay for some food & things I buy as I eat mostly organic food which is much more expensive. I use my own vehicle to get groceries & run errands but only because I choose to. They complain about my pay but 2 of their children do know they are getting a bargain because most 24/7 caregivers who are live-ins make more than that for ONE dementia patient...I deal with two.
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Awhile back we considered having my folks live with us, but they didn't want to make the move (the folks decided it would become too much of a burden on my own family's relationships). But the thing also became a question of, what if something happened to my husband's job and we couldn't afford our mortgage or if there were a house fire (all very unlikely, I know). It became a question of how our finances would become so entwined, and lines of responsibility so blurred, it was too much to imagine. Of course there are families where it works out just great. But my parents always taught me to plan for the worst....so when we did that, we couldn't come up with a sane plan.
And the amount to charge, that would definitely change over the years. More time, more complex duties, is going to cost more.
I still do the lion's share of caretaking, for my parents who are in their own home, but they are in process of moving to a senior apartment/assisted living continuing care place. I will still have significant things to do for/with them after they live there. But I'm not getting paid for any of my time, once in awhile they might give me a five-dollar bill for gas is all.
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BTW, to add some thought to pamstegman's response:
I don't think minimum wage is a fair wage for caregiving duties.
Also, when someone lives in your home with you, there is no such thing as an 8 hour day, in that you're on-call for all your waking hours, and actually if there is an urgent need in the middle of the night, you'll have to wake up and take them to Urgent Care and stop by the pharmacy. Those are not minimum wage jobs.
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Well our mom is in an ALF at $ 2670 a month or $89 a day or $3.70 per hour on a 24 hr day. This includes her housing, utilities, maid, laundry, meals, LPN's, transportation and about 10-15 day trips a month.
Butterfly is indeed a huge bargain $400 divided by 7=$57.14 a day.
Pretty good, if you are working 24 hours a day, that would be $8x24=$192 a dayx30= $5760 a month. And guess what? nobody can work that and survive for very long. You'll end up in the ER like BoniChak!
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lrobbins3545, you are not looking at simply caregiving. You are providing room and board and probably taxi service, bathing help, shopping, and on and on.

I think you should have an agreement drawn up by an Elder Law attorney who can advise you whether to increase the room and board rate and/or add a caregiving fee, and can probably also give you typical rates in your area. The one-time cost of consulting a lawyer will be more than worth it to have all your ducks in a row in the event Mom ever needs to apply for Medicaid.

Since she is your mother, and not a stranger, another factor to consider is what she can afford. For example, although the room and board and care my sister provided our mother was undoubtedly worth $2000 -$2500, Mom only had $850/mo income. She got a "family discount" LOL.
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there are lots of ways of determining a $ figure for caregiving. Even the ALF's (in my area) charge for "extras" like bringing a dinner tray to your room, replacing a burnt out light bulb, etc.
pamstegmann you have a very good price on ALF at only $2670/month, that is an incredible deal. In my area that would be rent alone, and maybe 10 meals/month, and absolutely no extras.
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LPN's included in the $2670 is an incredible deal. Again, in my area (major metro area) any medical personnel is an extra charge, whether it is medication or wellness check.
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Can a daughter actually be paid as a caregiver? Please explain. Where does this money come from?
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Litldogtoo, Our mom gets 1600 in SS each month, and her house is a double, so the rents 600 +750 =1350. Total 2950, so that makes ends meet, and she is in a private pay ALF in Williamsville NY (near Buffalo). If she needed more, she could get VA funding as the widow of a wartime veteran, or if she needed a full Nursing Home, she would need to go on Medicaid.
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LDT, the money comes from parents income/assets. A family member can be paid in many states, but not all. It depends on Medicaid regulations. If you are in a state that permits payment to family caregivers, there must be a care agreement in place prior to any payment. You should see an elder law attorney for help with this. If the person being cared for needs Medicaid, then their finances will be audited for a period of five years, and without an agreement in place, any money paid will be considered a gift that will equal a penalty when application to Medicaid is made. And the care must be medically necessary.
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If you are in ALF in VA, the rate is $1,207 a month for R&B, + $10. monthly for laundry. The resident has $80 month for personal items. Why not charge that???
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carney00, you've got to be kidding, what assisted living charges only $1207 per month? is that what your state Medicaid reimburses, or, is that what private pay people pay?
the national average for assisted living is about $3500 per month.
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In my area assisted is about $4,000.00 a month with add ons for level of care. LOC is one of my biggest gripes about the system. The rating system is different from facility to facility. I have a friend whose wife is in memory care, the base rate is 4,500 a month, the add on for level of care takes the monthly charge up to $7,000.00 a month. And this facility is relatively new so staff turn over, staff shortage, etc. In order to get better care for the residents my friend, and others too, i am sure were asked to pay an additional $700.00 a month to bring on one more staff.
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