“Home care” gets used for everything from a housekeeper to a visiting nurse, which makes it hard to know what you’re actually buying. Here is what a non-medical home care agency like ours provides, what it doesn’t, and how the billing works — the questions most agencies make you get on the phone to ask.
What’s included
- Personal care: help with bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, and getting safely in and out of bed or a chair.
- Companion care: meal preparation, light housekeeping, laundry, errands, transportation to appointments, and simply being there.
- Respite care: a caregiver covers so the family caregiver can rest, work, or travel.
- 24-hour and live-in care: around-the-clock coverage for someone who can’t safely be alone.
- Memory care at home: caregivers experienced with dementia, and routines built around it.
What it isn’t
Non-medical home care doesn’t include skilled nursing tasks such as wound care, injections or IV therapy. Those come from a home health agency, usually under a doctor’s order for a limited period. Many families use both: home health for the medical piece, home care for everything that happens the other 23 hours of the day.
The plan of care
With the agency we work with, a registered nurse visits first, listens, and writes the plan of care — what help is needed, when, and what a good day looks like. Caregivers work from that plan, and the nurse reviews it as needs change. It’s the difference between “a sitter” and care that’s actually supervised.
How billing works
- Hourly rates. You pay for the hours scheduled; a shorter shift usually costs more per hour than a longer one.
- Shift minimums. Most agencies have a minimum visit length (often a few hours) so a caregiver’s trip is worthwhile.
- Weekly invoicing, with the schedule agreed in advance — no surprises.
- Rates vary by level of care and by market. Our True Cost guide publishes the actual local ranges.
Questions worth asking any agency
- Who creates and supervises the plan of care?
- Are caregivers employees (insured, background-checked, trained) or contractors?
- What happens if a caregiver calls in sick?
- Is the agency licensed, and is it accredited by anyone outside itself? (We are Joint Commission accredited.)
See what care really costs
The True Cost guide has the real local numbers — no phone call required to get them.
Get the cost guide Talk to a nurse