A sad state of affairs

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I have stated in the past that I do home health. I have also had some considerable contact with aides both for Maggiepie before I stepped in and became her aide, and at some nursing facilities. I will tell you that I have worked for this company for 4 years now and the ONLY pay raise I got was when minimum wage went up. Fortunately, I am not trying to support myself and my household on this income. Now, my mother was in what is considered the BEST facility in Austin Texas, these people are not on Medicaid, tho they keep 2 bed for Medicaid patients and took in some from Galveston before and after Ike. The staff there has low turn over and they KNOW that if they get complaints, they will be let go, because these people are PAYING for the privilege of being there. However, I can PROMISE you, that MOST of the other places I've seen (with one exception) was an entirely different story. Some were little better than jails for the residents, including the privilege of being ignored for HOURS. And, the aides I saw and part of why I stepped in to be Maggie's helper, were semi-literate and some, I'm afraid, were mildly retarded. These people were a pale comparison of the privately paid people I saw at mom's. I can't say I'm as good as they are, because most of them have had more training than I have had, but I do think that I care as much as they do for my client, even if I don't get paid as much. Still, so long as these home health places are getting paid by Medicaid and Medicare, they can only afford to pay minimum, at least at first, and that means that people with more qualifications will move on to other jobs. Jobs that pay more, or have at least health insurance, or sick leave, or... well, you get the picture. So, I know that people on here are often trying to supplement their income, and we have a number of disabled people on here, at least a few getting home health (yes, I am actually speaking of Maggie here) and then we hear about elderly people being mistreated by family members and, sometimes, aides. Well, maybe these aides should be reconsidered... Do you want your elderly/disabled family member to have a mentally challenged person with little to no training taking care of them? I dread the day I can't do it any more, but... on the other hand... I also can't take not having a vacation or holiday any more. And, so far, I've managed to work my, and the roomie's medical stuff around my part time work, but I've got an up coming procedure that they say I can't drive after, that means not going to work. So... what do you think? I don't want our taxes to go up because of people who don't work but could, yet there are those trying to live independently (cheaper than a nursing home) who can't without assistance, and look what is being hired to help them... What do you think? **while I didn't consult Maggiepie before starting this, I can promise that she really is disabled and unable to work and my BBF so I am not slamming or flaming her in any way**