WISH Act May Change the Game When it Comes to Paying for In-Home Care

In news that could affect the care seniors receive as they age, the Well-Being Insurance for Seniors to be at Home (WISH) Act has been introduced in the U.S. House by Rep. Thomas R. Suozzi (D-NY). This new legislation seeks to help seniors pay for long-term care.

Currently, most Americans don’t have the coverage needed to pay for potential long-term care needs. This comes at a time when Baby Boomers are expected to have increased needs as they continue to age. Many rely on federal programs such as Medicaid. Medicaid covers nursing home care for seniors who have meager assets, and families are often faced with spending down their loved one’s assets to help them qualify. In most states, the threshold for assets is just $2,000.

Medicare, on the other hand, provides no coverage at all for long-term care.

Another current option is long-term care insurance. But only 2% of Americans have it, according to Time Magazine, partially because it’s expensive. As a result, their loved ones often try to provide a patchwork of care. However, these unpaid caregivers are untrained in most cases and often end up suffering from depression and stress-related disorders. In addition, many neglect their medical care as they try to provide care for their loved ones.

The WISH Act Provides Benefits and Flexibility.

As this new legislation seeks to help seniors pay for long-term care, it also gives them added flexibility. Instead of just funding nursing home care, the WISH Act would also allow seniors to use their benefits to pay for 6 hours a day of home care and pay for other services.

Monthly cash benefits would be about $3,600 and be indexed for inflation. The money would be funded by a .3 percent increase in the payroll tax for workers and employers.

Seniors who are of full Social Security retirement age and have significant cognitive impairment or need help with at least two activities of daily living (such as bathing or eating) could receive benefits under the bill. Once seniors pay into the system for 1.5 years, they would receive partial benefits. Full benefits would kick in after they contributed to the program for ten years.

Benefits under the new legislation would not be taxable. And seniors who receive benefits under the WISH Act would still be able to utilize other federal benefits programs. Funds from the WISH Act would pay out first, and then other programs, like Medicaid, could be used.

Find Out What Your Current Options Are

To learn about current options to pay for in-home care, find a location near you. We provide compassionate at-home care services that make it easier and safer for seniors to maintain their independence and continue to live at home.

A Place At Home Honors First-Ever National Caregiver of the Year

The 2020 Caregiver of the Year went the extra mile in providing exceptional care.

The 2nd Annual A Place At Home Franchise Convention was held in late September. This event marks a time for franchisees to connect, collaborate, and celebrate the past year. This year also marked the first-ever recognition of the National A Place At Home Caregiver of the Year. Franchisee’s submitted nominations from all over the country for one caregiver that went above and beyond the call of duty, demonstrating an extraordinary commitment to delivering quality care to clients and their families and lives the “We are CARE” philosophy. 

“We received many nominations from all over the country and each one was inspiring. It was difficult to choose just one winner,” said Jerod Evanich, President and Co-Founder of A Place At Home.

However, there was one nomination that painted a detailed picture of how one person went above and beyond the call of duty. The nomination read:

“Dave came on with A Place At Home after decades of working in the insurance business. He wanted to do something more “rewarding” in his 60s. He got his CNA/CMA and began working to make people’s lives better. 
Dave treats all clients like family. He creates a unique bond with each client he works with. He is always on time, never calls out, and makes sure everything is done to his best ability. 
Dave has worked for the past year with a very high acuity client. He instantly bonded with the young client (49) who due to a rare set of circumstances went from a successful businessman to a barely communicative paraplegic overnight. 
He has spent countless hours working as the main caregiver for this client and his family. Not only does he transport the client to his MANY weekly therapy appointments but works one on one with him in his home. Dave is consistently cheering this client on to make his next personal best in his daily bike exercises and always makes notes when a personal best has been reached. 
Dave has worked with therapists at Madonna to learn this client’s individual therapies and continues them at home as well as trains other caregivers working there in how they can help him gain strides. 
When he heard their anniversary was approaching, he took it upon himself to plan a romantic dinner out so the client could surprise his wife. He took the client out to get a card, made reservations at a nice restaurant, planned for a special dessert, and took time out of his off time to transport them over there in the client’s wheelchair van so they could surprise the wife. 
Dave does everything he can to try to relieve some stress off the wife who is also a mother of four and a doctor. Life for her is crazy and Dave makes sure there is always one less thing for her to worry about in his care for the client. Dave’s level of commitment to not only the client but also to our company goes above and beyond anyone I have ever seen.”

Dave walked into A Place At Home – Papillion shortly after they opened their doors in 2019. Dave interviewed for a CNA position and said he was looking for something that would fill his heart. He had retired from insurance and was now searching to do something more meaningful with his time.

“I remember thinking where the heck did this guy fall out of the sky from?” said Rick Perkins, Owner of A Place At Home – Papillion. 

Dave was placed with Don in August of 2019 and the two found an instant connection. They not only share common interests but are also from the same town and attended the same college. It was an unfortunate set of circumstances that brought these two together. But citing six degrees of separation,  Dave said, “There are no coincidences. I’m blessed to be a part of Don’s life.”

As blessed as Dave feels, Don and the A Place At Home team consider themselves equally fortunate to have Dave fulfilling his personal mission: to touch as many lives as possible as a caregiver. 

Dave is firm in his belief that you must have a servant’s heart to work in this industry; you must have empathy, and be able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. It’s this mindset that awarded Dave Caregiver of the Year. While he was happy to be awarded this honor, it’s his internal compass that drives his actions.

“At the end of the day, I lay my head on my pillow, and I know I made a difference.” 

From Caregiver to Franchise Support: A Caregiver, An Opportunity, A Career Path

Seeing the potential in people is something that A Place At Home co-founders Dustin Distefano and Jerod Evanich are passionate about.

Especially when it comes to their employees, they’ve always envisioned a career path for those under their employ. Before starting a senior care company, Dustin came up professionally through the career path set in place at Enterprise Rental. In their model, everyone started as a management trainee and moved their way into the career. “That was our mindset for all our employees – that we could have caregivers move up through the ranks at A Place At Home.”

Enter Danielle Sloan.

In 2015, Danielle was a 23-year-old first-time mom working as a certified nursing assistant (CNA). When she came across a job posting for an evening on-call position with an emerging in-home care agency, she applied. At the time, she was looking for a way to bring in a little extra money, sharing, “I was just trying to get by in life, honestly. I had just had a baby, and I was just trying to make sure the bills were paid.”

She was hired for the position. Soon after that, she was working full-time with A Place At Home as an in-home caregiver. While neither Danielle nor Dustin could foresee where this would lead in the future, the career path that Dustin envisioned was already set into motion. A few months after Danielle started with A Place At Home, a position as a Senior Services Coordinator opened up. She applied and found herself working in the office full time, matching seniors with their caregivers and managing their schedules.

The role was intensive and required a sharp mind, compassion, professionalism, and stellar organizational skills. All things that Danielle had in spades.

Fast forward a year and a half, Dustin approached Danielle about another opportunity. She had been helping out with billing and payroll for the agency and managed clients, caregivers, and staff well. However, Dustin was seeing more and more potential and wanted her to learn more about the backend of the business. Danielle caught on quickly and was offered the role of Assistant Manager for A Place At Home- Omaha. She accepted the position and eventually moved into the role of Human Resources Director. Then, in 2017, Dustin and Jerod started franchising their model of care. With this, they sold the Omaha office, and Danielle began working under the new owners as their Office Manager and helping the new owners navigate the waters of owning and operating an in-home care business.

None of this was her plan when Danielle first applied to work with A Place At Home. At the time, her career path included ambitions of being a Registered Nurse. She’d already completed all of her coursework to attend the LPN program in Omaha. Under Dustin’s leadership, however, things changed, “Dustin believed I could be more, saw my strengths and grew them. As I started to evolve professionally, I’ve found my niche in operations and finances, and I’m leaning into that path.”

For business owners within the APAH franchise system, it’s been a boon that Danielle has leaned into this path.

Earlier this year, she was offered yet another position within A Place At Home. This time, working in the corporate office as the Operations and Financial Support Specialist. Now, she’s supporting franchisees across the country, helping them with their business operations and finances. It comes as no surprise; she’s excellent at it. She’s working directly with APAH’s Director of Business Performance, William Ogden, who says, “Dani Sloan has been an integral part of A Place At Home for six years now, and now she’s here with us in the corporate office. I can honestly say how excited I am. She is helping me and others; she’s where she needs to be.” The business owners Danielle is working with agree.

“I have to point out that Dani is just a gem. There isn’t a question she can’t answer or a thing she can’t do. She’s held my hand big time over the past few weeks, and no matter what’s going on, she always says she has time for me. If it weren’t for Dani, I’d be losing it, but she’s so knowledgeable and available that it’s made it all doable.” – Dina Jenney, owner of A Place At Home – Philadelphia West.

While Danielle was the first caregiver to move into a different role and work her way up into management within the agency, she won’t be the last. She says that growth for other caregivers within the APAH system is absolutely possible. You can go from being an outstanding caregiver to working in the office if that’s your ambition. Her advice is to let your manager know that you’re interested in moving forward in a different capacity. Offer to learn and be a part of the on-call rotation. But most importantly?

“Don’t be afraid to try new things. Go outside of your box. Go outside of your comfort zone.”

A Place At Home is always welcoming ambitious, compassionate, and empathetic people to our team. If you or someone you know has a passion for helping others and ambitions to make a career out of it, reach out to one of our locations to apply and schedule an interview!