The Medicaid Caregiver Trap: Why Getting Paid to Care for Your Parent Breaks Families

State programs that pay family members to keep parents out of nursing homes sound like a financial lifesaver, but they are a fast track to bitter sibling warfare.

Last month, a woman in Ohio named Sarah started receiving $14.75 an hour from her state's Medicaid waiver program to care for her mother. By week three, her brother in Seattle accused her of treating their mother's cognitive decline as a 'lucrative side hustle.' This isn't an anomaly; it is the predictable, painful fallout of a system that turns family love into a low-wage job.

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