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Home Health Care Agencies Directory
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Home health care agencies provide senior care to ensure the safety and independence of our loved ones. Using our home care directory, you can compare home health care agencies and choose between Medicare certified versus private duty home care agencies.

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The cost of senior care depends on the nature of care. Supportive home care provided by a homemaker ranges from $10 to $32 in the United States (median of $18). The cost of home care provided by a home health aide ranges from $11 to $35 in the United States (median of $19). The median annual price of a homemaker is $41,184, whereas the median annual price of a home health aide is $43,472. Caregivers are employed by licensed private home care agencies.

Home Care agencies provide two main types of services that are custodial (skilled) or supportive (unskilled) care. Supportive services, provided by private home care agencies, offer assistance with personal care such as bathing, grooming, dressing, in addition to help with meal preparation, housekeeping, and shopping. Assistance with self-administered medications, ambulation and exercises, and transportation to medical appointments is often requested. These custodial or supportive services can be arranged for any amount of time or frequency including up to twenty-four hours every day or on a respite or temporary basis. Such services can help an aging person cope with their declining abilities, maintain their independence, and often avoid relocating.

Skilled services provided by medical home health care agencies, offer nursing care, physical, occupational, speech, and respiratory therapy as well as social services and hospice care. Following a specific plan of care, and under the supervision of a skilled discipline such as a nurse or therapist, a certified home health aide may provide personal care for a limited time. These skilled services are provided on an intermittent basis, with scheduled home visits to homebound clients only, under a plan of treatment ordered by a physician. These skilled services can avoid unnecessary hospitalizations, hasten hospital discharges, and enable an elder to stay at home during acute illnesses or while convalescing.

Supportive and custodial services (unskilled) are most often contracted with a home care agency on a private-pay basis for the desired amount of time and frequency of care. Medicaid has community-based programs in some states, designed to provide the elderly with personal care assistance in their homes as an alternative to institutional care. Some long-term care insurance policies allow coverage for home health aides, but it is necessary to obtain these home services through a licensed agency in order to qualify for reimbursement. Another option is to hire your own caregiver privately which is usually less expensive and can allow more input into the decision making process. This choice can be optimal with some luck and persistence, however in the employer role, managing care can be very time consuming, if not frustrating at times. On the other hand, skilled care services that meet specific guidelines including a plan of treatment ordered by a physician, and adherence to strict homebound requirements, are usually reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid, and most private health insurance policies.

We have an excellent description of the Types of Home Care Agencies and a thorough description of the Types of Caregivers available, their training, limitations and application in a home care setting. You might also consider our Caregiver Profile tool which matches the types of caregivers to your requirements. Home care pricing information is drawn from the Genworth Financial 2012 Cost of Care Survey.