What to Know If You Are The Boss of a Caregiver

Thanks and a hat Tip to Patti Elaine Kefalas Dudek

It's not just about the "nanny tax." When using a home health caregiver, it's crucial to know whether you are the caregiver's employer or someone else to avoid tax and legal snags.

With more baby boomers seeking help for aging parents, the in-home care industry is booming with a wide range of service providers, from geriatric-care managers to home-care agencies. Contractual arrangements and employment policies vary just as widely. So it's wise for consumers to ask questions up front about tax obligations and insurance coverage.

"Families need to be aware of all the ramifications," says Bernard A. Krooks, a certified elder-law attorney and founding partner of Littman Krooks LLP, a New York law firm.

WSJ Article

Technorati Tags: home care,HCBS

In-Home Health Care Via Wireless Networks, NSF Awards $1.5M For Study

Rice University, The Methodist Hospital Research Institute and Technology For All (TFA) have received a $1.5 million federal grant for research in east Houston that will examine ways to provide novel, low-cost, personalized health monitoring to people with chronic diseases living in working-class communities.

The researchers plan to examine how patients with chronic diseases use inexpensive handheld wireless monitoring devices called Blue Boxes, to participate actively in their own medical treatment. The National Science Foundation (NSF) grant will pay for the development and testing of the Blue Boxes and the wireless broadband network that will connect the devices to a central source for analysis.

Program creates jobs and meets senior care needs

Halton is pleased to announce the continued success of a program that is providing jobs to Ontario Works (OW) participants and preparing Halton to meet the needs of a growing seniors population. The highly effective Personal Support Worker (PSW) program, which trains OW participants for careers in the long-term care and home care fields, graduated 23 new PSW's at a ceremony on Friday, January 11 at the Halton Region.

“Graduates of the PSW program will help ensure that Halton is ready to meet the needs of its growing seniors population,” said Regional Chair Gary Carr. “The program is also helping Ontario Works participants gain their financial independence and contribute to the success of Halton’s economy – it’s a win-win situation.”

The PSW program has cost $237,965 with a total savings to date of $1,175,852 based on reductions to social assistance costs. Since OW costs are shared at an 80/20 ratio between the Province and the Region, Halton’s share of the savings has been $235,170. Investments in this worthwhile program pay off in participant outcomes and will continue to result in ongoing reductions to social assistance costs. For more information, please contact Susan Lazzer at 1-866-442-5866 or visit www.halton.ca.

Medicare Bidding For Durable Medical Equipment Will Harm Small Businesses And Seniors' Access To Care

The Medicare bidding program for durable medical equipment will hurt small providers and "undermine the nation's homecare infrastructure" unless Congress modifies the program. This is the key message that will be presented to a congressional subcommittee today by the American Association for Homecare. The Association believes the bidding program will "jeopardize patients' standard of care, choice of provider, and access to the medical equipment and services they need."

Georgie Blackburn, vice president at Blackburn's, a homecare provider in Pittsburgh, Pa. and a board director at the American Association for Homecare, will testify on behalf of the Association on October 31 before the U.S. House Small Business Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight.

Blackburn will testify that under the bidding program, "Those who are not selected as winning bidders will not be able to provide competitively bid equipment or services to Medicare beneficiaries. Since Medicare payments typically comprise 35 to 50 percent of a small provider's revenue, losing the ability to provide competitively bid items for a three-year contract period is essentially a death knell."

Homecare Stakeholders Present Recommendations To CMS Administrator Kerry Weems, USA

Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the American Association for Homecare, other homecare stakeholders held a meeting with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Acting Administrator Kerry Weems. The meeting focused on Medicare program integrity, power mobility issues, the new competitive acquisition program, and home oxygen therapy.

Tyler J. Wilson, president of the American Association for Homecare, commented after the meeting, "We talked about our frustration that CMS has not taken more measures to strengthen program integrity in Medicare and to stem fraud at the front-end. We told the Administrator that we want to collaborate to prevent fraud from happening in the first place."