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Workers in a private home. Workers Comp Liability?

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Maquis

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Virginia


Here's my situation, I'm hoping someone out there can give me some good advice.

My mom has had a stroke and for about a year she was absolutely miserable in a nursing home. I have since brought her home and hired some CNAs to take care of her. For awhile, I was using an agency but I found that the agency was generally disreputable for a variety of reasons and I have now hired some girls privately and I'm paying them myself. All of this is very expensive and we're struggling to keep afloat.

Today at work, someone mentioned that I could have a serious problem if one of my CNAs is injured in my home. How should I go about protecting myself? Should I buy Workers Comp insurance for these ladies? If so, where would I find this insurance and how much would it cost? I've talked to one healthcare company and they said they can't offer Workers Comp insurance to private individuals, but only to businesses.

Thanks in advance!
 


BlondiePB

Senior Member
Maquis said:
What is the name of your state? Virginia


Here's my situation, I'm hoping someone out there can give me some good advice.

My mom has had a stroke and for about a year she was absolutely miserable in a nursing home. I have since brought her home and hired some CNAs to take care of her. For awhile, I was using an agency but I found that the agency was generally disreputable for a variety of reasons and I have now hired some girls privately and I'm paying them myself. All of this is very expensive and we're struggling to keep afloat.

Today at work, someone mentioned that I could have a serious problem if one of my CNAs is injured in my home. How should I go about protecting myself? Should I buy Workers Comp insurance for these ladies? If so, where would I find this insurance and how much would it cost? I've talked to one healthcare company and they said they can't offer Workers Comp insurance to private individuals, but only to businesses.

Thanks in advance!
Your friend was absolutely correct about having serious problems. Try a different nursing agency. There are plenty of them. Ask one of the RN or LPN nurses who took care of your mother at the nursing home for some recommendations for good agencies. If you or your mom do not care for a CNA that an agency sends, call the agency and have that CNA removed from the case. Do this until you are satisfied with the CNA.
 
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Maquis

Junior Member
Hi Blondie, Thanks for the reply.

Unfortunately, going with an agency isn't a very good option in my situation. The agencies in my area all charge around $18-$20 per hour and my mom needs care for about 8-10 hours per day. I've been able to hire girls directly for $10-$12 per hour and even this rate is depleting my savings significantly.

My mom will need this level of care for the foreseeable future so I'm trying my best to maximize our savings until she is Medicaid eligible.

The only alternates I can see right now are to buy some type of Workers Comp insurance or to have them sign a legal waiver in case of injury. I've had 1 lawyer tell me to have them sign a waiver and another lawyer told me that a waiver would not hold up in court if a serious injury did occur.

My house isn't exactly a minefield of hazards, but I realize that accidents do happen and I'm hoping to prevent any potential legal problems while at the same time doing what is fair to CNAs.
 

BlondiePB

Senior Member
Even if you could find an insurer for the private duty CNA's (which is very unlikely), by the time you even paid for the coverage, you will be spending more than what it costs to hire CNA's through an agency. Mom will be eligible for the medical benefits sooner, so don't worry about reserving her money.

Should you choose not to hire through an agency, make sure that the private duty CNA's are licensed and carry their OWN liablilty insurance (liability does not cover w/c injury and costs the CNA about $50- $60 per year).
 

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