Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Providing Care as a Secondary Caregiver: Qigong healing and more!

Am I considered to be providing care in “the provider’s home” for purposes of Notice 2014-7?
A2. Yes. Under § 131, “the provider’s home” means the place where the provider resides and regularly performs the routines of the provider’s private life, such as shared meals and holidays with family. See Stromme v. Commissioner, 138 T.C. 213 (2012). In this situation, the mother’s home became the provider’s home because it is where the provider resides and regularly performs the routines of the provider’s private life.
This is my situation as well!

I get Medicaid as medical assistance! Why?

 Qualified Medicaid waiver payments. Certain payments you receive for providing care to an eligible individual in your home under a state's Medicaid waiver program aren’t included in your income. These payments may be excluded from your income whether or not you're related to the eligible individual receiving care.
So what is considered a "payment"?
Notice what's not on the list: Supplemental Security Income, child support, food stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), gifts, and cash withdrawals from savings. None of those are included in MAGI.
eligible for various levels of financial help depending on their income. Obviously, what counts as income matters a lot.
Not "gifts" or "cash withdrawals from savings" - that's why I have a separate DBA or business account as a self-employed Shiitake forest cultivation farmer!! So my self-employed income is higher than the "child dependency" level.

You buy a $200 power lawn mower for your 13-year-old child. The child is given the duty of keeping the lawn trimmed. Because the lawn mower benefits all members of the household, don't include the cost of the lawn mower in the support of your child.
 So if a "gift" is for the benefit of caring - as a secondary caregiver - then it can not be claimed as based on childhood dependency.
a secondary caregiver: a person who assists in caring for or supporting an older adult, but who does not have primary responsibility for the day-to-day care or decisions regarding that care."
That's what I do. What does a Secondary Caregiver do?

"companionship"
"Four in ten (40%) caregivers interviewed - share a home with their care recipient."
"heavy chores"
"help preparing meals"
"Caregivers also receive support from home-based services."
"family members paid out of pocket."
"self-employed."
 Most sons (76%) live in a single-family home and with the parent they care for (72%), a much higher proportion than observed in daughter caregivers."
So there you go!! That's me.

And what does the government think of this?

 The Minnesota Department of Human Services and the Minnesota Board on Aging are honored to accept this award on behalf of everyone in our state who contributes to quality of life for older adults,” Piper said. “Our thanks go especially to family members and friends who provide the majority of all care needed by older Minnesotans, which is not only important for the people receiving care, but also for our state budget – saving Minnesota alone an estimated at $7.9 billion per year. That is more than Minnesota’s annual Medicaid costs for nursing homes and other long-term services and supports.”
 yep that's me!

saving money - a nursing home single room costs $100K a year.

Since my self-employed "gross income" is  $4150 or above a year - that means I am not a dependent child.

So just because I have not harvested any shiitake mushrooms yet does NOT mean I don't have a "gross income." Farming is based on assets of the anticipated revenue. So I am certainly anticipated revenue - I've even already had some revenue some in. So it's an "investment" as "community supported agriculture." 50% of Farmers make NEGATIVE $1550 a year or even more "negative" income.

So are they "child dependents"? !!! No - they are just struggling in a system that pays the hardest working people the least.

However, MAGI rules apply only to certain categories of Medicaid eligibility. These include parents and caregiver relatives, children, pregnant women, and the adult expansion group.
So Modified Adjusted Gross Income applies to secondary caregivers. That's why my self-employed farm income is my real tax-based income eligibility - and not any "gifts" I receive that benefit the household as a whole - like a child getting a lawnmower! Such "gifts" can't be declared as based on dependency since they're not.

 The rules determining who is in a household and whose income to count, however, can vary significantly. Also, under MAGI rules, an individual or family’s assets do not count in determining eligibility.
So there you go!

 With MAGI, only net profit (or loss) from business or farm operations counts toward income. This bottom-line net income is reflected on line 31 of Schedule C (Profit or Loss from Business) and line 34 of Schedule F (Profit or Loss from Farming).
That's what I fill out as my self-employed income as a secondary caregiver.


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