I have to agree about the fraud situation, not that it is always overt, but lines can get blurred. When I first got on disability, I didn't qualify for any subsidies because my husband worked and made more than was allowable for two people. Incredibly funny since my medical costs ate up our money and prevented us from having a savings. We had to pay out of pocket for PCAs. I wanted someone to come in and help clean the house and have someone there when I got in and out of the tub. The company that we used recommened three times a week for an hour each. I was able to get into the tub okay, but after the tub was wet, I felt insecure trying to get out by myself so I wanted help with that if I was having a good day that would allow for a bath. I also planned to ask for help getting dressed if I was too stiff to do it myself. This lasted about two weeks. The women were nice enough, but not the best workers or helpers. We have a 850 square foot bungalow with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living/dining room, and a kitchen. Before my SCI, I was able to vacuum (all rooms), dust (bedrooms and living room), and clean the kitchen in about an hour. It took the PCAs an hour to vacuum the house and they were only doing the kitchen, living room, and bathroom. They didn't have time to dust. Only one PCA checked on me to see if I was ready to get out of the tub. When I had a different PCA, I waited for over 20 minutes in the tub one day before I braved it. I walked out of the bathroom to see the PCA sitting on the couch watching television. That ended it for that company. We couldn't afford a maid service and they were one of the few agencies in our area that could work with me since I wasn't on medicaid and because I had a family member living with me. I cannot remember what the hourly rate was, but I know it was reasonable. Unfortunately, I was paying to get my floors vacuumed and nothing else. Also, I wasn't getting any personal help. Some of it was just poorly trained PCAs, but that one sitting on the couch watching television was out and out fraud. That is when my husband changed jobs so he could be home more to help me. I would like to use that company again for house cleaning, but I think that we will request four people for that one hour every couple of weeks or maybe just once a month. Then we'll have them do more than just vacuum and at least the house will get a cleaning. I might have been more tollerant about the house cleaning if we weren't paying out of pocket, but the tub situation was scary. We pay our nieces and nephew to come over and help clean every now and then. So far, it works good and we get to spend time with the kids, but I don't feel right having them do the heavy cleaning type of stuff, just because they are kids.
Candle "Scars remind of us where we’ve been, they don’t have to dictate where we are going." ~David Rossi of Criminal Minds *********************************************************************** ________________________________ From: Don Price <donpric...@yahoo.com> To: Dan <d...@unh.edu> Cc: "quad-list@eskimo.com" <quad-list@eskimo.com> Sent: Wednesday, May 2, 2012 8:05 PM Subject: Re: [QUAD-L] Independent living? Dan, I work for the IL Center here in Phoenix, and also have my caregiver through the IL Center, or CIL, as we call it. A similar thing has occurred here, but I don't think you can blame the CIL. Let me explain. CILs are non-profit organizations, federally mandated by the Rehab Act of 1973. As such, they simply don't have the funds to pay for attendant care, housing, etc. What happens is that states contract with CILs to run/manage attendant care programs, so the money is really "pass through." In the case of ABIL, where I work, the state of AZ medicaid program pays us to train, manage and payroll about 1,500 personal care attendants. We keep a small amount for running the program, but most of the money simply goes from Medicaid, through us, to attendants. Since it's really Medicaid (taxpayer) money, they (Medicaid) call the shots on everything from training to time sheets, NOT the CIL. Since this is, again, taxpayer money, and also government bureaucracy, there is a great need for documentation and verification. The government likes everything in triplicate, as you know. But, in some ways you can't blame them. People are screaming for government agencies to reduce cost and fraud. Your timecard example was a case-in-point: you used to simply write Susan worked 20 hours, sign it, and get paid. Well, who's to say Susan actually worked 20 hours? I'm not accusing you, Dan, but there are plenty of people out there submitting fraudulent hours and worse. Add to that frivolous lawsuits by people who want a fast buck and you have the current situation. I can't speak for your local CIL, but I'd bet the above situation applies to them too. If your local CIL is not fighting to keep people in home care situations, they are not worth their salt. Keep advocating for your needs and rights! Don C5-6 Tempe, AZ On May 2, 2012, at 2:15 PM, Dan <d...@unh.edu> wrote: > How many of you hirer PCAs? My state used to have an excellent independent > living center. It was one of the first in the nation. Sadly, over the years > it has deteriorated into what I call a non-Independent living Center. When I > first started, I made the rules. I decided how many hours of help, I needed > per day. Once the dollars were approved by the state. I was on my own. > > Now, the bureaucrats have taken over. What used to be a one-page sign up for > a new PCA has now turned into 15! They have to have background checks, > medical checks, references, a waiting time. The timesheets that I use to fill > out were very simple -- Jill Smith worked 20 hours this week. Jill signs - I > sign. > > Now we have to follow -- at least we're supposed to -- a voluminous book full > of rules and regulations. Everything from what you can and cannot wear to the > proper body mechanics of lifting to Mandatory meetings, to Defensive driving, > etc. etc. > > How can they call themselves an independent living center? There is nothing > independent about this. > > Has any of this happened to your independent living center? > > Dan >
