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What Home Care Providers Offer Home Care Aides provide custodial care or non-medical care, helping seniors with their activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, housekeeping and transportation.
Home Health Aides offer skilled care such as checking patients’ pulse, temperature or respiration. They assist with medications, braces, ventilators and other medical equipment. Higher level nursing care can be provided at home as well; however it may become prohibitively expensive to do so.
Paying for Home Care Home care costs are covered by a wide number of sources. Families most commonly use Social Security, Veterans and other pensions, savings and home equity through a reverse mortgage to pay for care. However there exist other options that help reduce the cost of home care; such as tax breaks, respite care and Medicaid waivers for financially qualified families. Families fortunate enough to have life or long term care insurance have additional resources available to them.
Use our Eldercare
Financial Resource Locator Tool to search for options for which you
or your loved one is eligible.
Qualifications for Home Care Providers
Independent home care aides require very little, if any, certifications or state regulation. When working with an agency, home care aides are insured, given criminal background checks, emergency training and a physical examination to ensure they are in good health. For home health aides, if the agency receives Medicare payments, home health aides must pass a competency test and some states require licenses.
Both home care aides and home health aides can obtain a voluntary certification from The National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC).
Choosing a Home Care Provider
Home care aides can be hired independently or through an agency. Independents are typically 20-30% less expensive but agencies are insured, do background checks of the aides and provide alternatives in case the home care aide is unable to work on short notice. In either case, families typically interview the aides personally to feel comfortable with them.
Home Care Provider Are Also Known As
Home care aides are also referred to as personal care aides, caregivers, companions, and personal attendants. Home health aides are also referred to as nurse aides, nursing assistants, certified nursing assistants and geriatric aides.
Costs of Home Care
Home care aides typically visit a home several times a week for visits lasting from 2 – 8 hours. The national average hourly fee is $19 with different state averages range from $13 - $25. It should be noted these are average costs from home care agencies. Private individuals can be retained to provide most of the same services with fees 20-30% lower. Home Health Aides visit the home as much as medically necessary but typically for shorter periods of time than Home Care Aide visits. The national average is $21 / hr with different state averages range from $13 - $30 / hr.
Options to Help Pay for or Reduce the Cost of Home Care
These resources and programs can help pay for or reduce the cost of home care. Some are specifically designed for home care while others provide general financial assistance or reduce the cost of living for the elderly, thereby enabling them to put those resources towards the cost of home care.
Many of these options will not be relevant to you or your family. To determine those for which you are eligible, use the Eldercare Financial Resource Locator.
Accelerated Death Benefit
Arizona NMHCBS
Calif. In-Home Supportive Services
Cash and Counseling Program
CFAC: Cancer Assistance
Colorado Old Age Pension
Connecticut CHCPE
Death Benefit Loans
Elderly and Disabled Tax Credit
Equity Key
Family / Friends Loans
Federal Elderly Care Tax Credit
Florida CCE Program
Florida HCE
Florida OSS For Seniors
Hawaii Kupuna Care
Home Equity Line Of Credit
Ill. Circuit Breaker Tax Relief
Illinois Community Care
Indiana CHOICE
Kansas Senior Care Act
Life Settlements
LIHEAP – Aid for Energy Costs
Maine Home-Based Care
Maryland Senior Care Prog.
Mass. HCP And ECOP Programs
MD In Home-Aide Services
Medicaid
Medical Expense Tax Deductions
Minn. Alternative Care
Nevada CHIP And COPE
NJ JACC Program
Reverse Mortgages
Rex Agreement
Social Security
SSI State Supplements
State Elderly Care Tax Credit
Supplemental Security Income
Survivors’ Benefits
Texas CCAD Program
Veterans Health Care
Veterans Pensions
Viatical Settlements
Virginia Adult Services
Wisconsin COP
Wisconsin SSI-E
Wyoming CBIHS
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