Serious illness and disability often prevent someone to be able to live their life independently. Therefore, the assistance coming from caregivers are often needed. Financial assistance for caregivers of disabled is one of the ways to appreciate and recognize the important role of people working in this profession.
Full-time caregivers have often come from families, which commonly work for free. Since the caregiver is such a demanding job, it is more than likely that the person won’t have enough time to keep their current job. Moreover, since the patient is often immobilized, the patient can’t offer much in return for their favor. That’s why many caregivers are having a hard time to fulfill their family’s need.
Is there any financial assistance for caregivers of disabled?
Since 2000, the federal government has made the National Family Caregiver Support Program official. Although this program does not provide direct financial assistance, they may have the information you need. In addition to that, the program may be able to provide you with some temporary assistance when you are in no position to provide the intensive care needed your loved ones.
Medicaid
Some help may also come from your state’s Medicaid program. Under this program, the Medicaid program will provide some financial assistance for caregivers. To see if you’re eligible, the first thing you need to do is to find out whether your loved one is eligible for Medicaid. If he or she is eligible, then you can ask the Medicaid office to see if you can receive the help. Of course, this help varies between states. Some might even don’t have a support for Medicaid’s caregiver program. However, it is worth the shot.
Veteran Affairs
If you are currently caring for a disabled veteran, you can go to the Department of Veteran Affairs Caregivers Program for help. This program is specifically made to help the veteran to properly pay their caregiver.
Find More Local Information
Most of the help comes from local communities and organizations. Therefore, it is very hard for us to pin point the exact local-based help around your area. Thankfully, you can use several resources to do so.
First is the local Area Agency on Aging. Contact your county’s office and ask about this agency’s office. This is an excellent place to look for information about the programs that can help both the patient and the caregivers.
Second, there’s the Family Care Navigator created by the Family Caregiver Alliance. This online source can provide good information based on location or state. They list government, private and nonprofit programs available for caregivers.
Last but not least, you can rely on the www.benefitscheckup.org to see if your loved ones (especially the senior citizens) are eligible for the federal, state or local programs. All information you provide to the site will be kept in secret, so you don’t have to worry about anything.
Finding financial assistance for caregivers of disabled is not easy, but as you can see there are several ways to find good information about it. We hope this post help!
References:
- VA Caregiver Support
- Image: highlandstoday.com
