Key decision questions
- How many hours of help are needed each week, including evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays?
- Is the need non-medical home care, Medicare-certified home health, hospice, or post-hospital rehabilitation support?
- Is the home safe for bathing, transfers, stairs, meals, medication reminders, and emergency response?
- At what point would assisted living, memory care, or skilled nursing be safer than home care alone?
Cost factors
- Hourly rate, minimum shift length, overnight care, live-in support, weekends, and holidays.
- Dementia supervision, bathing, transfers, transportation, and meal support.
- Home safety equipment, bathroom modifications, mobility equipment, and emergency response tools.
- Family availability to cover gaps between paid caregiver visits.
Coverage questions
- Medicare may cover limited home health services when medical criteria are met, but it generally does not pay for ordinary long-term custodial in-home care.
- Medicaid home and community-based support varies by state, eligibility, program rules, provider participation, and authorization.
- Long-term care insurance, VA benefits, private pay, and family caregiving may be part of the plan.
Safety questions
- Is the person safe between caregiver visits?
- Are falls, wandering, stove safety, missed medications, or missed meals a concern?
- Can the agency increase hours quickly after hospitalization, surgery, or caregiver burnout?
- How are care notes, missed shifts, backup caregivers, and family updates handled?
Family checklist before calling providers
- List the daily tasks that need support before calling agencies.
- Ask whether caregivers are employees, background checked, bonded, trained, and supervised.
- Request written rates, minimums, cancellation rules, holiday rates, and backup policies.
- Compare in-home care against assisted living or memory care if supervision needs are increasing.
Related senior care paths
Focused senior care request
Need help organizing the next calls?
Use this when the family needs help comparing care level, cost questions, coverage questions, safety risks, and what to ask before calling agencies or facilities.