What happens if your paid caregiver gets injured or has an accident while helping you or your loved one? Are you protected from financial responsibility and loss of assets? If your caregiver comes from a home health agency, nurse registry, or companion service, does that company provide workers’ compensation coverage? These are important questions for all families utilyzing paid caregivers.

Understanding the Regulations: No home health agency, nurse registry, or companion service in Florida is required by the Agency for Health Care Administration to obtain a workers’ compensation policy. This is optional and the premiums are expensive. Professional caregivers are considered at high risk for job related accidents. This is due in part to the typical job duties of lifting patients and medical equipment.

Understanding the Risks: Workers’ compensation policies do not simply cover medical bills for job related accidents. Typically, the injured caregiver is not able to return to work and is out of work until he or she recovers. Some claimants never recover and incur permament wage loss. Reimbursement for lost time on the job can add up to more than the medical costs. Homeowner’s insurance is NOT the same coverage as workers’ compensation insurance. The risks are vastly diffferent. The odds of a visitor slipping and falling in your home are slim. This risk in no way compares to a paid caregiver, regularly spending eight, forty, or more hours per week in your home with job duties of lifting, bending, pushing, etc.

Protecting Your Assets: Ask for proof of workers’ compensation coverage from your home health agency, nurse registry, or companion service. Do not simply fall for the line, “our caregivers are insured.” Many time this euphamism refers to liability insurance, which in no way covers injury to the worker. Liability insurance and workers’ compensation insurance are separate types of insurance. Home care providers with cheap bill rates are notorious for operating without workers’ compensation. If you directly hire a private caregiver, you need to ask for proof of both workers’ compensation coverage and liability insurance coverage. Most private caregivers do not have these policies. The consumer must be aware of the associated risks to their own assets, should something go wrong.

Champion Home Health Care ensures both workers’ compensation insurance coverage and liability insurance coverage are maintained at all times. Our insurance certificates can be explained in person by one of our Champion owners.

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