Discover everything you need to know about senior home care so you can make the best decision for you or your loved ones from the experts at Inglenook Senior Care.
Navigating the difference between senior home care and other types of home care- like Medicare-certified Home Health Care can be confusing for families and seniors in the Coeur d’Alene area.
“The first step in understanding the difference between non-medical home care and home health care is to define the term.”
Senior Home Care is also called non-medical home care.
This type of in-home senior care is typically for seniors and disabled adults who need the following non-medical home care services:
- Senior Companionship
- Light housekeeping
- Meal preparation
- Light laundry
- Errands and shopping
- Transportation to MD Appointments
- Help with Pets
- Help with household duties (watering plants, checking the mail)
- Medication reminders
- Help with personal care like toileting, bathing, dressing.
- Safety in the home- to avoid wandering, leaving the stove turned on.
- Typically, a trained caregiver will be in the home for a certain number of hours each day, or every other day, to assist your senior with these activities.
Next, Does Medicare or Medicaid Cover Private Duty Home Care?
Medicare does not cover the cost of non-medical home care. This type of care (private duty non-medical home care) is considered long-term and is usually paid for with private funds or long-term care insurance.
In certain circumstances, Idaho Medicaid will pay for the cost of non-medical private duty home care. The senior must apply for Medicaid and must meet the financial requirements for Medicaid services.
To learn more, visit the Idaho Medicaid website: https://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/services-programs/medicaid-health/about-medicaid-adults
Understand What Kind of Home Care Services Are Covered Under Medicare and Medicaid
About Medicaid for Adults in Idaho
Medicaid offers healthcare coverage for adults that address a variety of health needs, including coverage for low-income adults, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities who meet certain income criteria.
Medicaid offers different programs to provide healthcare coverage for adults in Idaho:
- Adults with income under 138 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL)
- Pregnant women with income under 138 percent of FPL
- Women diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer with income under 200 percent of FPL (see Women’s Health Check for more options)
- People aged 65 or older who meet income requirements
- People who are blind or disabled (using Social Security criteria)
- Medicare Savings Program
- Basic Plan – This plan provides health, prevention, and wellness benefits for adults who do not have special health needs. This plan includes annual physicals, immunizations, most prescriptions, doctor and hospital visits, and more.
- Enhanced Plan –This plan is for individuals with disabilities or special health needs. This plan has all the benefits of the Basic Plan, plus additional benefits. Most of the time, individuals will need to be referred by a doctor to become eligible for the enhanced plan.
- Medicare-Medicaid Coordinated Plan – Designed for people who are eligible and enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, (also known as dual eligibles). This plan has all the benefits of the Enhanced Plan, plus allows people to enroll in a managed care plan to help coordinate Medicare and Medicaid benefits. There are many advantages to enrolling in managed care, one of the most valuable is access to a care coordinator who helps people with complex medical conditions to achieve better health.
Senior Home Care Services that are covered by Medicare in Idaho.
Medicare-Covered Home Health Care Services
Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and/or Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) cover eligible home health services like these: (2)
- Part-time or “intermittent” skilled nursing care
- Physical therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Speech-language pathology services
- Medical social services
- Part-time or intermittent home health aide services (personal hands-on care)
- Injectable osteoporosis drugs for women
- Usually, a home health care agency coordinates the services your doctor orders for you.
Medicare doesn’t pay for:
- 24-hour-a-day care at home
- Meals delivered to your home
- Homemaker services (like shopping, cleaning, and laundry), when this is the only care you need
- Custodial or personal care (like bathing, dressing, or using the bathroom), when this is the only care you need
If you have determined that private duty in-home care is right for you, the next step is to choose a home care agency in the Coeur d’Alene Area that you can trust to provide great care.
How to Choose the Best Home Care Agencies that Provide Senior Home Care in the Coeur d’Alene Area
How to Choose a Senior Home Care Agency
- Talk to family, friends, and your doctor or other health care professionals about home care. Get recommendations and referrals from people you trust.
- Look for a private duty home care agency near you. Do an online search. In the Coeur d’Alene Area area, consider Inglenook Senior Care.
- Read reviews. Each home care agency in the area will have reviews and testimonials on its website. Read those reviews and get a sense of how their clients and staff feel about their services.
- Call and talk to more than one in-home care provider. Are they good listeners? Do they offer the types of services you need? Are they provide services in the area where you are located?
How much does a senior home care agency charge?
Home care agencies that provide caregivers charge various rates, depending on their services, hours, and the complexity of the care you or your aging loved one might need.
In Coeur d’Alene, you can expect that the hourly rate for a home health aide or caregiver in the home is well over $20 per hour.
“Home care much less expensive than assisted living or nursing home care.”
What Activities Do Senior Home Caregivers Provide?
When a home health aide or caregiver is in your home, they are usually in charge of completing certain household tasks like:
- Meal preparation
- Light housekeeping
- Light Laundry
- Making the bed
- Running errands or grocery shopping
- But caregivers also serve a much more important purpose with regard to the senior. The caregiver provides companionship, friendship, and socialization.
When a caregiver is in the home, they are courteous, friendly, and engage the senior in conversation. This helps with socialization and keeps the senior from feeling lonely, depressed, and isolated.
So, while a caregiver or home health aide may have lots of work to do, their job is to include the senior in activities and conversation. This helps with mental health and overall health.
In summary, choosing to implement non-medical home care for your aging loved one can benefit them in numerous ways.
Their health – both physical and mental will improve when a caring home care agency is involved.
If you are considering senior in-home care services, talk to the friendly staff at Inglenook Senior Care today. Providing Exceptional Senior Home Care in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Hayden, Hayden Lake, Sandpoint, Rathdrum, Dover, East Greenacres, McGuire, and Dalton Gardens. We can answer your questions and help you understand more about the services we offer. Call today: (208) 400-5003
Inglenook Senior Care is a private-pay only, non-medical home care agency.
- Idaho Department of Human Services: https://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/services-programs/medicaid-health/about-medicaid-adults
- Medicare.gov: https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/home-health-services
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