Income from taking care of family member

[Jtkknj]

Good afternoon,

My sister has recently had a massive stroke and was not expected to survive a few short weeks ago. Now she is in rehab and gaining strength daily, it is awesome to behold.

My question: My father asked me if it was possible for me (as an RN) to earn an income providing the care she will need. The billing supervisor at the ASC I currently work in is telling me that I can bill insurance and be paid..... I have zero knowledge about this and will need to be schooled in this before I attempt and inadvertently commit insurance fraud.

Not a road I want to travel down.

Anyone have any advice in this situation? I have background in ER/ICU/ASC and even Psych and will research and learn whatever need be to care for my family member correctly.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

There are probably a lot of variables here. In my state, nurses have to be official "independent" nurses through the state's Medicaid system in order to do this. The patient also has to be evaluated by the Medicaid Case Managers to determine if he/she qualifies for private duty nursing care and how many hours/week he/she qualifies for.

[Kdrenee]

My dad was in a terrible motorcycle accident and needed 24-7 supervision and rehab when he went home, our social worker and a physician told us about this as well. They told me I could be paid to stay at home with my dad and be his CNA. I never looked into it because we chose other options, but I definitely know it can happen. For a CNA anyways. I live in Texas.

[paradiseboundRN]

In Michigan, it is very difficult to get approved for this. I have had a number of patients whose caregiver had to quit their job in order to take care of their loved one. Everyone seems to know someone who gets this benefit, but I have never had a caregiver approved even when the social worker helped them apply. Of course, they weren't nurses either. Good Luck.