General Questions

Does Medicare or Medicaid pay for St. John’s services?

  Medicare, Medicaid, and private health insurance do NOT cover our services.  Our services are not medical.

  Long-Term Care Insurance sometimes covers either in-home caregivers or the adult day program; it depends on the terms of the policy.  St. John’s staff will be happy to call your insurance carrier to determine if you have coverage.  Sometimes a case manager for the insurance carrier will pay for our services when they are necessary to delay nursing home care.

  Medicaid-eligible individuals and seniors with limited financial resources may qualify for care funded through a state program.  In some situations, St. John’s is able to grant partial scholarships.  Please contact us for additional information.

My loved one is a veteran.  Does the VA pay for care at St. John’s?

  The VA does not pay for care at St. John’s directly.  However, some veterans who served during specific time periods are eligible for a pension benefit which will reimburse them for care from programs such as ours.  If you have difficulty finding details on this benefit, we can connect you with a private organization which assists veterans to obtain and manage this pension benefit. 

Do I have to pay the Caregiver each time s/he comes?

  No.  We will send a bill bi-weekly. 

  If you request, we can arrange to have the amount invoiced withdrawn directly from a bank account.  You will still receive an invoice for your records.
 

In-Home Care Program

If we use your In-Home Care Program, do we have to use it every day?

  We arrange the care schedule for each client based on that client’s needs and preferences.  While some clients use our Caregivers daily, many schedule help only once or twice a week.  A few use us only when a family caregiver has an appointment.  The decision is yours.

  We DO have a minimum of four hours for each shift (eight hours for overnight shifts).  For example, we will schedule a caregiver to work from 8 am to noon or later, but will not schedule the shift from 8 am to 10 am.

Does St. John’s have set times for daytime, evening, and overnight shifts?

  No.  We set those times based on what the client requests, presuming we have Caregivers available at those times.

Will my family member always have the same Caregiver?

  Probably not.  While we understand that most clients prefer consistency, it is also important to build some flexibility into the schedule.  For example, if a client requests three shifts/week, our Care Coordinator will determine which of our Caregivers are available on those days at the times requested.  The Caregivers who are the best match for that client’s needs may already be committed to other clients on some of the days requested.  Therefore, the best match will be to send Caregiver A on Monday and Friday and Caregiver B on Wednesday.

  St. John’s attempts to send the same Caregivers to a client on a consistent basis.  Once a client indicates she is satisfied with specific Caregivers, the Care Coordinator tries to schedule them rather than sending new people each shift.

  If a client is not happy with a specific Caregiver for any reason, the client should let the Care Coordinator know.  St. John’s will not schedule that specific Caregiver to return.

How far ahead do I have to arrange for services?

  A Care Coordinator must make a home visit before we can schedule a Caregiver.  This visit is essential to assure that St. John’s understands the client’s needs and that you understand our services.  This visit can be scheduled within one business day of your request if necessary.  We encourage family caregivers to be present so that we can address their concerns.

  Our Care Coordinators will arrange In-Home Care as quickly as possible, but their ability to do so depends on having Caregivers available for the days and time requested.  Ideally, you should request specific days of service no later than Wednesday of the week preceding the week you need a Caregiver.

Adult Day Program

I’d like to see the St. John’s Adult Day Program before I bring my family member.  Do I need an appointment?

  No.  You are welcome to stop by any time we are open (weekdays between 6:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.).  If you prefer to come when most of our participants are present, plan to visit 10:00 a.m. to noon or 1:30 to 3:00 p.m.  (Lunchtime is very busy for our staff, so we may be challenged to give you our full attention.)

  If you would like to bring your family member and join the group for lunch, just call ahead (preferably at least one day) so our staff sets a place for both of you.  However, if you have an unexpected opportunity to stop by at lunch, we will try to accommodate you.

I can’t talk my family member into trying your day program, but I really think it would be a good thing for him.  Do you have any suggestions?

  If your family member has memory problems or dementia, it is usually easier to bring them for a visit without trying to convince them they want to come.  New places are intimidating for all of us, but especially for those struggling to remember familiar things.  Most people become comfortable at St. John’s Adult Day very quickly once they have experienced it.

  If your family member’s mind is clear, we suggest you try to stop by on a day when the two of you are out for an appointment or other reason.  Assure her that you only want to visit to see what the program is like.  Many people are pleasantly surprised that our program neither looks nor feels like a nursing home, which is very likely their reason for declining a visit.

My family member sometimes behaves inappropriately due to his dementia.  Can he come to the program?

  Yes, unless his behaviors pose a danger to other participants, staff, or himself.  Our staff is trained to deal with individuals with difficult behaviors.  Most of the time, we can manage.
 

How far ahead do I have to arrange for services?

  Presuming our Adult Day Program is not at maximum capacity, we can generally accept new participants within a day or two.  However, the responsible family member MUST complete our forms.

  If our facility is at maximum capacity, we encourage you to visit, explain to our Program Director or RN which days and times you would like to utilize, and complete the enrollment forms.  That process will put you in line for the next opening for the days you need.  Generally speaking, there is no way for us to predict when we will have an opening, as it depends on a current participant leaving.

  It can often take several weeks to enroll an individual to ride the Madison County Transit Shuttlebus, so plan ahead if you need to use this service.  We encourage you to let our Program Director help expedite the process.