There are three options for taking care of people at home:

• Personal Care and Companionship (aka Caregiver)
•  Private Duty Nursing Care
•  Home Health Care

Personal Care and Companionship 

This is where a caregiver comes into someone’s home. A caregiver helps with everyday activities like bathing or showering, dressing, meal preparation, transferring from a bed or chair, walking, or using the toilet. The caregiver may also help with light housekeeping. In addition, they may help get a person to and from their doctor’s appointments. Caregivers generally will not administer medication. 

Most caregivers require a minimum amount of hours per day and week. Caregiver’s payment is an out-of-pocket expense for individuals. People can get assistance paying for a caregiver through a Long Term Care policy or similar policy. Generally speaking, these policies have a cap per day, and most have a cap for total claims paid out. If you want to learn more about these policies, please contact a Financial Advisor or Life Insurance agent/broker for details. 

Private Duty Nursing Care 

This is typically a Registered Nurse (RN). Private Duty Nurses might live with the patient since they provide hourly nursing at home for people with chronic illness, injury, or disability. Private Duty Nurses may manage a person’s chronic disease by administering medications, creating treatment plans, or caring for hospice patients. Check directly to see if your health insurance provider covers Private Duty Nursing.

Home Health Care 

This is when a Social Worker, Nurse, Home Health Aide (LVN), Physical Therapist, Physical Therapist Assistant, Occupational Therapist, or Speech Therapist comes to a person’s home to work with them. A person’s primary care physician must give a referral to qualify for this service. Medicare and most private insurance companies cover the cost of home health.

Which home health service (Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Speech Therapist, etc.) comes to the residence is determined by your referring doctor. Compared to Caregivers and Private Duty Nurses, Home Health providers may come only sometimes. Their time there is limited to the service the patient needs. To qualify for home health, a person must meet the following criteria:

• Be homebound: Typically, someone who is considered homebound must stay home because it takes a considerable or taxing effort and may require assistance.
• Need intermittent skilled services: Skilled services means the person needs to work with a nurse, physical therapist, speech therapist, or occupational therapist
• Be under the care of a physician: Home health recipients must have a primary care physician (PCP).
• Have a home health plan of care (POC): A doctor initiates the plan of care, and the physician must periodically review it based on progress notes provided by the home health agency.
• Have a face-to-face encounter: The recipient has to meet with their doctor 90 days before or 30 days after the start of home care services. Since COVID, Medicare has allowed video appointments between patients and doctors.
• Have a diagnosis: The recipient must have a qualifying diagnosis to justify the reason for home care.

STAGES is here to educate people about the aging process.