Private Pay Home Care Service Benefits
If you have an elderly loved one who has recently developed the need for home care, then you may be deciding just how you will pay for this care. While many elderly who are in need of home care obtain financial assistance after applying for government programs, such as Medicaid or Medicare, others choose to obtain private pay home care services or combine private pay care with government-subsidized care.
Read on to learn about two of the several benefits of private pay home care services that you should keep in mind when navigating your loved one's home care options.
1. No Government Assessments Required
After requesting financial assistance for home care from a federal government program, a health care provider, such as a nurse, typically visits the home of the potential home care recipient and completes one or more assessments.
One common assessment is the Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS). When conducting the OASIS assessment, the health care provider collects the answers to several questions regarding the home care recipient. These questions cover several topics, including the home care recipient's demographic information, health concerns, and potential home care needs.
Then, this health care assessment must again be completed periodically as the home care recipient continues to receive home health care subsidies. While many seniors and their families do not mind completing these assessments, others consider them nuisances that they would prefer to opt out of if they could.
If you and your loved one choose to seek help from a self-pay home care service instead of using a government subsidy to fund your loved one's home care needs, then you never have to complete these assessments. Instead, you can simply request the services you, your loved one, and a physician feel are needed directly from the home care service.
2. Obtain Additional Services Your Government Subsidy Does Not Cover
If your loved one is approved for a government program that helps fund senior home care, then you may still need to obtain some private pay home care services in addition to your loved one's government-subsidized services.
For example, if your loved one is approved for subsidized home care through traditional Medicare, this plan will only cover the cost of medically necessary care provided by a home health agency and not care considered non-medical in nature. Non-medical care can include helping your loved one bathe and dress, providing them transportation, housekeeping, and help with other important, yet non-medical, tasks.
However, when you enlist in the help of a private pay home care service, you can pay for these additional non-medical services out of pocket while allowing Medicare to fund the care they consider medically necessary.
If your senior loved one is in need of home care, then realize that there are advantages to both government-subsidized home care and private pay home care services. Keep these two facts in mind when deciding how to fund your loved one's needed home care.
To learn more, contact a company, such as Quality First Health Care Services.
