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I would check into the legal issues involved before asking a caregiver to be paid by Medicaid for care for two patients simultaneously. I posted a message during Ivan's earlier crisis time re: the inability of nursing homes in Indiana and Minnesota to be able to hire nursing assistants for the time period of evening/nights and the losses encountered by those establishments. I had only one response to that message, and I assume that it was not read by many...... This is not an Ivan problem, this is a societal issue that good economic times are not easy times to hire menial (however important) tasks. The need is for strength (lifting patients); care and concern and emotional support and dedicated personnel. The issue that needs to be addressed is the salary scale in many cases......who sets this scale that Medicaid uses? We faced the lack of "in home" help with my Mother.....and we were private pay.....no response to ads; no staffing available from home health care agencies to supply the requests of the community. As a result, she was in a nursing home in IN and then moved to a nursing home in MN to be closer to family. The current nursing home in Rochester has had 10 empty beds for more than a year because of inability to hire staff for the evening shift so they cannot accept patients for these beds (and the subsequent loss of income of $100+ per day per bed to the nursing home.). Rita