Challenges
Options at home
Learn more about in-home
care:
• Read the Society’s brochure
“The Basic Facts: Hiring Help at
Home” at nationalMSsociety
.org/hiringhelp.
• Call an MS Navigator® at
1-800-344-4867 for referrals
and more.
• Find out about respite care
services at respitelocator
.org, and long-term
care options, including
cost calculators and
estimated costs by state, at
longtermcare.gov.
• If you or your loved one is
a veteran, visit the Veterans
Administration’s A-Z Health
Topic Finder at
va.gov/
health/topics/. Click on H,
then “Home Health Care.”
To find out more about your
state’s program, visit Medicaid
.gov.
Private coverage
Coverage and financial assistance
through private health insurance
companies varies from policy
to policy. “Some have great
coverage and some have no
coverage at all,” Erickson says.
“Call your insurance provider to
find out what it offers.”
Hiring on your own
If you’re not using Medicare
or Medicaid, you can either
hire privately, or use an
agency. Agencies take on the
administrative burden of
hiring and billing, including
background checks. Hiring
privately can be less expensive
and offer greater control, but
you are responsible for ensuring
that your hire’s background is
clean and that he or she has the
skills in place to best serve you.
Susan Skoney, diagnosed with
MS in 1999, considers her home
health aide, Lori, whom she pays
out of pocket, to be a part of her
family. “Lori is my right hand,”
she says. “I need her to do a lot
for me physically, from helping
me get in and out of the shower,
to doing my laundry and taking
me to my physical therapy
appointments.” Skoney says her
previous aide, now employed as
a physician’s assistant, helped her
find Lori. “She contacted her
aunt, who was a nurse at a local
hospital, who put us in touch
with another nurse who knew
a network of private home care
providers. Nurses and physical
therapists can be very helpful
connecting you to what you
need. So make the connection,”
she says.
Kelly Nieuwejaar is senior writer and
communications manager for Kemp
Goldberg Partners in southern Maine,
where she lives with her husband,
Khoren, diagnosed with MS in 2001.
