Florida Caregiver Requirements: Get Paid for Family Caregiving in Miami

Unpaid friend and family caregivers help millions of older adults maintain their independence. For many, unpaid caregiving is necessary. They cannot afford the cost of providing managed care long term for their friends or loved ones.

Unfortunately, unpaid caregivers neglect their care while working. Nearly 1 in 5 caregivers report fair or poor health. In addition, around 2 in 5 caregivers exhibit signs of stroke and/or heart disease.

Are you an unpaid caregiver in Miami and do you meet certain Florida caregiver requirements? If so, there is hope. You can get paid for family caregiving in Miami.

Read on to learn about some of your options.

Long Term Care

Does your friend or family member have Florida Medicaid? If so, one of your sources for getting paid as a family caregiver is Florida's Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long Term Care (SMMC LTC) Waiver Program.

What It Is

The SMMC LTC Waiver Program in Florida provides eligible Floridians with the finances for various healthcare services. The exact care that program recipients receive depends on their needs.

Care recipients can receive nursing home care. However, if they want to stay home, they can also receive home health aides. These can provide program beneficiaries with meal preparation, housecleaning, and other services.

Recipient Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for the SMMC LTC Waiver Program, a recipient must first be Medicaid eligible. Luckily, Medicaid requirements are simple for the elderly. Medicaid recipients must be 65 or older and a U.S. citizen or have been permanent residents for five years before applying.

SMMC LTC recipients also need to meet the asset and income requirements. The income limit is equivalent to around three times the Federal Benefit Rate. The asset limit is around a few thousand dollars.

On top of this, care recipients must truly need a Nursing Facility Level of Care. SMMC LTC authorities consider health issues like dementia and the inability to complete daily activities.

How It Gets You Paid

The people who help home care recipients don't have to come from home care agencies. They can be family members or friends of the care recipients.

So, for example, say the surviving spouse of an elderly individual wants to be a caregiver. This elderly individual may be able to choose their spouse to receive caregiver funds from the SMMC LTC Waiver Program. In a sense, the program "hires" the surviving spouse to be a caregiver.

How Much It Pays

The downside is that Medicaid will only pay family caregivers so much. They'll receive around $10 per hour. So for 12 hours of work, a caregiver will only get slightly more or less than $120.

However, caregivers don't necessarily need to provide 24/7 care. SMMC LTC may pay for respite care and/or adult health care. This can supplement any care that the caregiver provides.

Did you know Aidaly trains and pays family caregivers in Miami competitive hourly wages, starting at $15/hour? Aidaly covers the cost of training, and pays family caregivers looking after a loved one on Medicaid. Learn more and check your eligibility here.

Caregiver Eligibility Requirements

It's easy to qualify as a family caregiver with the SMMC LTC Waiver Program. Most recipients only need to pass a background and fingerprints check. They also need the state to sign off on their ability to legally work in the USA.

As long as you provide non-medical care, you don't need a high school diploma. The situation will be different if you need to provide medical care. You'll need more training to be eligible for this.

When to Apply

It's best to apply for the SMMC LTC Waiver Program as soon as one is eligible. People who apply for the program are often put on years-long waiting lists. This is because this Medicaid program has a limited number of participant enrollment slots in Florida.

Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC)

Is your loved one a veteran? If so, they may be eligible for one of several VA caregiving programs in Florida. The Aid and Attendance Pension and Veteran's Pension programs are both good supplemental options.

However, PCAFC is the veteran program that provides the most for eligible family caregivers.

What It Is

PCAFC is a program offered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). It offers clinical support to the family caregivers of eligible veterans. Along with offering a monthly stipend, caregivers can also receive many other benefits.

Veteran Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for PCAFC, the recipient must be a veteran or an Armed Forces member undergoing medical discharge. They must also have sustained a serious injury or illness they incurred or aggravated in the line of duty.

The injury must make it necessary for the veteran to receive in-person care for at least six months. They may need this care, in one case, because they can't perform daily care activities. In other cases, they may need supervision, protection, and/or instruction from a caregiver.

Also, caregiving services must be provided by the family caregiver in the veteran's home. Veterans cannot receive services through another individual or entity simultaneously.

Caregiver Requirements

To be an eligible caregiver for this program, a person needs to be 18 or older. They must also either be a close or extended family member. If not, they must at least live with the veteran full-time.

The caregiver must also undergo training. Then they need to demonstrate being able to help the veteran with their personal care functions.

How You Get Paid

The program provides veteran caregivers with a monthly stipend every month. This will get paid directly to the caregivers.

In many cases, the veteran can also name a secondary caregiver. This caregiver won't receive a monthly stipend. However, they can receive some of the other benefits offered by this program.

Upgrade Your Florida Caregiver Requirements

These are just a few of the options to get paid as a family caregiver.

Here at Aidaly, we can help you find out what caregiver programs you're eligible for. Additionally, we can help you meet Florida Caregiver Requirements with our caregiver training programs.

Check your eligibility by getting started here.

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