homecare vs Respite vs Private duty?

[4valeri]

Here are three catagories that have some similarites. I have been reading alot here about the paperwork and pay for HH.What about respite? Is this through a specific company? What about the paperwork and pay for Private Duty? Here in central NY I am Private duty nurse, Self employed. I have medicaid provider # and bill medicaid directy via computer and get paid weekly LPN 21.63hr. I do 1 pediatric case FT and 1 PT, have been LPN for 8yrs, in HH 7yrs and 1st yr med/surg. Definately love homecare best!! Looking for ideas when hubby and i move to a warmer climat in a few years!!love to here other responses in these fields!!

[Jo Dirt]

Here in Tennessee, most all private duty cases are funded by TennCare. TennCare is in a lot of financial trouble and has been facing a lot of cuts in services which have resulted in a lot of people losing their private duty. The limit for a person to use TennCare for private duty seems to be about a year. With every case lost there is a new one, though, so you can plan on keeping busy if you like to work in private duty.

My main problem with private duty is the way the agency pays. They call you a private contractor which means you get straight pay with no taxes witheld. You get no overtime (even though there are many times they expect you to come in and work a 6 day week of 12 hour shifts). No workman's comp, no benefits, no vacation time, no raises, and when tax time rolls around you pay dearly for it.

[4valeri]

Mortorcyclemamma .....here In ny ........the medicaid department, along with the county are the deciding factors how nay nursing hrs a client receives.........they are really trying to cut down on medicaid fraud.......so they can be big sticklers on hrs.........as long as you can prove the medical necessity........the patient will get the hrs. The hrs vary depending on medical need. Some people I have worked for have 24/7 coverage, some 16hrx7days week.....the case on work FT on has 41hrs mon-Fri.......and that's because I go to school with him and mom/dad work through the summer too! There is no agency envolved with this type of private duty, but I do know that you can also do private duty through an agency...........you will make less money as they will get their cut of the $$$too!! Doing it directly like I do cuts out the middle man!!

It's very interesting to see how it works in others states!!