What is the difference between home health care and home care/private care?

Home Health Care is insurance driven and covered by most health care plans, including Medicare.  A physician must refer a patient to Home Health, much like writing a prescription.

Home Care, also known as private care, is not usually a covered benefit.  Long Term Care companies such as CalPERS, Mass Mutual, Genworth, to name but a few of the options available, can provide you with this additional insurance benefit. Cost varies depending upon the policy and there are many companies from which to choose. Aide & Attendance is another insurance benefited to Veterans who fought in a war time effort.  This program is income based.

 How is long term care reimbursed to the policy holder?

Senior Alternatives and some others, will assist clients with filing a claim and provide whatever documentation is needed.  Normally this includes a copy of our business license, proof of liability insurance and written care plan.  Once the claim is filed, we are also happy to submit copies of the invoices along with required charting documentation used by the insurance company. The insurance company sends reimbursement directly to the policy holder.

 Why are agencies so different in charging rates for the same service?

All agencies are not created equal. There are registries also known as referral agencies who are not state licensed and do not cover any liability if a caregiver is injured while on the job. The client is the employer and responsible for paying the caregiver and filing the W-2.  Their rate is often times lower because they don’t follow state mandates and are not responsible for much else than placement.

 Senior Alternatives Home Care and Care Management is a unique, boutique type of service. We follow a social work model and provide care management oversight to our caregivers. Our care managers are all master-level and are also available to hire should more be requested by the family. All of our staff are employees of Senior Alternatives. Our caregivers are thoroughly screened, criminal and driving records reviewed, we pay for all liability should a caregiver get injured while on the job.  Reference checks are also used because who is a better judge than someone who worked or been cared for by this person.

If you have been considering asking for help please call us for a free consultation. 

If you would like to join the Senior Alternatives team, we invite you to reach out to us! You can also make a donation directly on our team’s page. The more we can raise for researching this fatal disease, the closer we come to finding a cure!