Taking care of Mom and getting paid
My wife and I take care of her mother and have for the last 5 years. I work and my wife does the actual home care with no assistance from two of her 3 sisters. The youngest sister comes twice a year for two weeks to give us a break. None of the sisters, (other than the youngest has offered) though pay anything for my wife's work and care that she has provided to her mom.
I don't want to sound frivolous, but we are living on just my income, which is not very much. We watch the other "sisters" (I will leave the youngest of the sisters out of the rest of this dialog, because it would be unfair to lump her in with the oldest two sisters), go off on vacations all over the country, and never have they asked to spell us or very rarely do they even come to visit.
It was brought to my attention that maybe we could apply for medicare for my wife's work in taking care of her mom, but the issue I would like to ask is does my wife have to be a licensed day care giver and does there have to be a doctors order requesting care.
Mom can do some things, but not a whole lot. My wife takes her to Doctor visits. Helps to pay bills, and cleans the house twice a week and does the weekly torture grocery visit, which is Mom's way of getting some time away from home. Other than this, she sits in her living/bedroom and reads the morning paper and watches TV.
Again, the question is, can my wife get paid for taking care of Mom at home? If anyone has the answer please let us know.
Thanks in advance