Share This
Print
E-mail
How to Reduce the Cost of Home Care: 7 Ways to Lower Your Cost of Care
With a little knowledge of the home care industry, families can save money on care services provided in their homes. Below we discuss seven different ideas that can help save money. One can also search for financial assistance to help pay for home care.
Families may achieve significant savings by using independent caregivers instead of caregivers retained through professional organizations. Independent caregivers are typically 20% - 30% less expensive than agency provided resources. However, there are drawbacks to using independent caregivers and therefore this approach may not be appropriate for all families. For example, agencies perform background checks on their employees and provide substitutes when the home care aide is unable to work on short notice.
It is important to determine the needs of individual requiring home care. Do they absolutely require a home health care aide or would their needs be met by using a home care aide? If they do require home health aides, do they need them daily or perhaps only some days / week and can accept a home care aide for the remaining days. Depending on the state, home care aides are typically 5% - 10% less expensive than home health aides.
There are tax credits and deductions available to the elderly and their families depending on how they file their taxes. Filing as an individual, a married couple or a married couple filing separately can impact a family’s tax payments. There are free tax prep programs available online that will make filing these additional deductions easier. In addition, if an elderly person can be claimed as a dependent on someone’s return, they can receive further credits. You can learn about these options on the following pages.
State Tax Credits for Elderly Dependent Care
Medical Expenses Tax Deductions
Elderly and Disabled Tax Credit
Many states and non-profits organizations offer resources to low income elderly families to allow them to make modifications that make their homes safer and more accessible for the frail elderly. Modifications to stairs, bedrooms and bathrooms can diminish, delay or eliminate all together the need for home care aides. The University of Southern California’s Gerontology Center maintains a database of home modification resources by state. You can visit their website here. There are also low income home weatherization programs which one can learn more about here.
There are many respite care programs offered by state and non-profit organization; Alzheimer’s Respite, Veteran Administration Respite and the National Family Caregiver Support Respite to name just a few. These programs often provide free or low cost respite care to qualified families. Respite care can directly offset the need for home care aides; 5 hours of free respite care eliminate the need for 5 hours of paid home care aides. In addition to the respite resources above, one can use the Respite Program Locator Tool to find other programs.
This discussion avoids all political, legal and ethical questions associated with obtaining prescription drugs from Canada. We are not advising families for or against, we are simply examining the subject from an economic and procedural perspective.
There is no question that some drugs can be purchased online from Canadian pharmacies with relative ease and at significant cost savings. One study found prices to be on average 25% less than in the US. For brand-name drugs as high as 50% or more, while were generally lower for generic drugs.
The process for purchasing medications is slightly different at each pharmacy but generally speaking, one mails, faxes or emails the prescription, pays with a credit card and receives the medication by mail a few weeks later. Given the delay in obtaining one’s medications, Canadian pharmacies are more appropriate for those with long term medicinal needs. Some Canadian pharmacies can provide all the refills on the prescription in a single order making ordering both more convenient and less expensive.
You can check the cost of medications at different Canadian and US pharmacies at this website that tracks medication costs to see if using a Canadian pharmacy would benefit your family.
Sometimes families use home care aides to monitor their elderly loved ones at home from their work location. It may not be necessary to have a home care aide working 6 or 8 hours / day if they are only providing direct assistance for a fraction of that time.
Monitoring a loved one using an Internet based home monitoring system can do that same job at a lesser cost. Home monitoring systems use sensors and cameras to relay videos and send alerts over the Internet enabling a family member to monitor their loved one remotely from their place of work on the computer or from the road on their mobile device. You can learn more about internet based monitoring systems here.
Finally families can use our Home Care Financial Resource Locator Tool to search for financial assistance to help pay for home health care or look for affordable home care.
It is important to determine the needs of individual requiring home care. Do they absolutely require a home health care aide or would their needs be met by using a home care aide? If they do require home health aides, do they need them daily or perhaps only some days / week and can accept a home care aide for the remaining days. Depending on the state, home care aides are typically 5% - 10% less expensive than home health aides.
There are tax credits and deductions available to the elderly and their families depending on how they file their taxes. Filing as an individual, a married couple or a married couple filing separately can impact a family’s tax payments. There are free tax prep programs available online that will make filing these additional deductions easier. In addition, if an elderly person can be claimed as a dependent on someone’s return, they can receive further credits. You can learn about these options on the following pages.
State Tax Credits for Elderly Dependent Care
Medical Expenses Tax Deductions
Elderly and Disabled Tax Credit
Many states and non-profits organizations offer resources to low income elderly families to allow them to make modifications that make their homes safer and more accessible for the frail elderly. Modifications to stairs, bedrooms and bathrooms can diminish, delay or eliminate all together the need for home care aides. The University of Southern California’s Gerontology Center maintains a database of home modification resources by state. You can visit their website here. There are also low income home weatherization programs which one can learn more about here.
There are many respite care programs offered by state and non-profit organization; Alzheimer’s Respite, Veteran Administration Respite and the National Family Caregiver Support Respite to name just a few. These programs often provide free or low cost respite care to qualified families. Respite care can directly offset the need for home care aides; 5 hours of free respite care eliminate the need for 5 hours of paid home care aides. In addition to the respite resources above, one can use the Respite Program Locator Tool to find other programs.
This discussion avoids all political, legal and ethical questions associated with obtaining prescription drugs from Canada. We are not advising families for or against, we are simply examining the subject from an economic and procedural perspective.
There is no question that some drugs can be purchased online from Canadian pharmacies with relative ease and at significant cost savings. One study found prices to be on average 25% less than in the US. For brand-name drugs as high as 50% or more, while were generally lower for generic drugs.
The process for purchasing medications is slightly different at each pharmacy but generally speaking, one mails, faxes or emails the prescription, pays with a credit card and receives the medication by mail a few weeks later. Given the delay in obtaining one’s medications, Canadian pharmacies are more appropriate for those with long term medicinal needs. Some Canadian pharmacies can provide all the refills on the prescription in a single order making ordering both more convenient and less expensive.
You can check the cost of medications at different Canadian and US pharmacies at this website that tracks medication costs to see if using a Canadian pharmacy would benefit your family.
Monitoring a loved one using an Internet based home monitoring system can do that same job at a lesser cost. Home monitoring systems use sensors and cameras to relay videos and send alerts over the Internet enabling a family member to monitor their loved one remotely from their place of work on the computer or from the road on their mobile device. You can learn more about internet based monitoring systems here.
Finally families can use our Home Care Financial Resource Locator Tool to search for financial assistance to help pay for home health care or look for affordable home care.
