Need help with locating home care for aging parents living in Texas? WorkingCaregiver.com can help you locate quality care. Email Carol@WorkingCaregiver.com.
When our parents approach the age of needing more care at home that’s when adult children turn on the Internet. We seek help for them to live out their lives at home.. preferably as comfortable as possible. This weekend my friend’s dad turns 100! And believe me he needs some good quality care but he still resists inviting hired caregivers to help. So, the family members chip in every day of his remaining life to make sure he is safe, fed, and clean. Unfortunately, it’s not working too well. A couple of times, in the morning, they’ve found him on the floor. Just recently he had a mild stroke but he refuses help from outside the family.
There are ways around getting help for him which my friend and her family have finally figured out. First off, they got advice from a Geriatric Case Manager, someone who truly understands the old body and it’s surroundings. But who pays for care outside the family? Here’s are some facts.
Does Medicare Cover Custodial Care?
Medicare routinely pays for custodial care in every skilled care setting for which it provides payment. Medicare will not pay for custodial care in the absence of a skilled care plan.
Medicare covered nursing home stay
A patient receiving skilled care in a nursing home from Medicare not only receives care from skilled providers such as nurses, therapists or doctors but also receives care from custodial providers such as aides or CNA’s. This care usually consists of help with bathing, dressing, ambulating , toileting, incontinence, feeding and medicating. Medicare does not exclude the custodial services but pays the entire bill because custodial care is a necessary part of the skilled care plan in a nursing home.
Medicare covered home care
Custodial care is always a part of a skilled care plan for home care. The patient receives skilled care from a nurse or therapist and custodial care from an aide for help with bathing, dressing, ambulating , toileting, incontinence, medicating and possibly feeding. Medicare pays for both types of services.
Need more help or resources? Visit our Senior Services Directory. And go here for Senior Services Savings & Discounts. Email Carol@WorkingCaregiver.com.
