My mother has a Home Care worker thru Medicare that is supposed to come and help her clean and go shopping for her. However, my mother has told me that she comes and just sits and reads a magazine and leaves her with no food in the house. I have tried to complain to the agency but have gotten no results. What are my mother's rights?? She is getting the service thru Medicare and is not paying for it but she needs it because she is unable to shop for herself due to a recent fall.
I had the same thing happen. I called the adminstrator who listened to me in that "sympathetic" way only a bureaucrat can, then asked if it would be alright if she could send the same person back to my mom because it was too late to get another. I said, "is that what you would want for your mother?" All she was worried about was sending the maximum number of people for the maximum hours so they could bill Medicare. I cancelled the services and hired another Med. agency who was a little better.
I do not know how big your town is, but there are several companies that contract with Medicare for services. (hospitals usually refer you to the one they work with). Ask for advice at senior centers, etc. about quality of care...like everything else you need to shop around.
I have also hired (out of pocket) a caregiver to come once a month for big grocery shopping and light house cleaning. She likes and trusts this person so it is worth it for peace of mind. Everything else I do.
good luck
If these people understand u know ur rights, u have a good chance of seeing real change.
PS I would not inform the care worker of this letter. She might steal things from ur home thinking u r going to get her fired. God bless u. Hope this helps someone.