Caregiver Agreements, Part 2

I just posted part 1 regarding the Caregiver Agreements I prepare when my client/caregiver sees me before the services are rendered, payments received, and the parent's entry into the nursing home. In situations when I do not have the opportunity to help the client before the services are rendered, payments received, and/or the parent's entry into the nursing home, I still have other ways to prevent MassHealth from forcing the child to pay the money back.

If it appears that the parent may return home and home care can resume, I can prepare the agreement I addressed in Part 1, and the caregiver can get paid weekly for work performed that week. If the parent will never return home, but payments of money or property have been made for that care, I can make a couple of legal arguments so the caregiver child can keep the money/property. I will likely have to have a "Fair Hearing" before a hearing officer in this situation because complex arguments need to be made.

Referring to a particular regulation, I can argue that the elder's payments to the caregiver were for valuable consideration, and not as a gift. As a further and separate argument pursuant to a different regulation, I can submit the case that the payments were transferred for a purpose other than to qualify for MassHealth. There may be additional arguments that can be made depending upon the specific facts in a particular matter.

In summary, the sooner I can meet with the caregiver and/or elder, the more choices I have to get the job done.