Are You Concerned About the Rising Cost for Home Health Care?

Are You Concerned About the Rising Cost for Home Health Care?

By Linda DeGraffenreid, LIVING WELL Magazines

When the time arrives that you or a loved one needs additional assistance for daily living and personal care, before making this huge decision you should do a comparison of Elder Care Costs.

Nursing Home: Small private room: $7,500 per month*

Assisted Living: 300-to-500-square-foot studio apartment (skilled care not included) – $4,750 per month*

*Genworth Survey Average Select for Texas Market

Here is a Case Study:

A couple married for over 60 years needing significant assistance. The husband developed Alzheimer’s disease and had suffered a stroke. The wife had only minor health issues but could no longer care for her husband or maintain the household. They moved into an assisted living facility with a skilled care up-charge. Eventually, they were split apart when the husband was placed in an Alzheimer’s unit.

Her Assisted Living Apartment     $ 4,000 per month

Skilled Assistance Up-Charge         $ 6,750 per month

His Alzheimer’s Unit Charge           $ 4,400 per month

Their Total Cost:                                     $15,150 per month.

If only they had chosen Unlimited Care of North Texas, Inc., as their professional caregivers, they could have stayed together as a couple, in the home they lovingly shared for many years, with a personal caregiver to provide comfort and care, prepare meals, transferring assistance, keeping the surrounding area clean and safe, bathing and dressing assistance, transportation to doctor’s appointments, shopping or to a special occasion or event and R.N. delegated tasks:  medication setup pill minder and monitoring, eye drops, ear drops, nose drops, blood pressure and vital signs, tube feeding, enemas, suppositories, etc. For this case Unlimited Care of North Texas, Inc., 24 /7 care charges would have been $ 8,370 per month.  A savings of $ 6,780 per month!

Here are some questions you should ask when making a decision for IN-HOME CARE:

  • Is the agency licensed by the state of Texas?
  • Does the agency have an RN dedicated to planning and supervising your loved one’s on-going care?
  • Can the RN delegate and supervise your loved one’s caregiver, ensuring the safety of the following tasks?
    • Medications, setup pill minder, medication monitoring
    • Blood pressure and vital signs
    • Eye drops, ear drops, nose drops
    • Wound care
    • Tube feeding, enemas, suppositories
  • Is the agency locally owned and operated?
  • Experience, how many years has the agency been in business?
  • Does the agency take long-term care insurance to pay for their care?
  • Does the agency provide free assessment and on-going care management by an RN?
  • Will there be extra charges for weekends or nights?
  • What yearly holiday does the agency have charges for?
  • Is there additional transportation charges?
  • Does the agency do criminal background checks, driving record checks, and drug testing?
  • Are the agency’s caregivers employees, and not contractors, with fully paid social security and taxes?  (Does the company pay the caregiver and their payroll taxes or will you be held liable)
  • Is the agency insured and bonded?  (If you or the caregiver are injured, will the company’s insurance cover you or will the caregiver pursue you and your homeowner’s insurance)

When Unlimited Care of North Texas is your care partner, there are no hidden costs. There is a one-time small administration fee and three invoiced holidays, New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Many of our competitors charge extra for weekends, nights, and for travel. We never have and we never will. All costs are explained in the contract so there are no surprises.

Unlimited Care of North Texas, Inc., caregivers staying with you in the comfort of your home 24 /7 Live-in Care with R.N. delegation planning and supervising your loved one’s ongoing care – $5,580 a month.

Unlimited Care of North Texas, Inc., Caregivers staying with you in the comfort of your own home – 8 hours a day / 5 days a week – $3,000 a month.

Please contact Unlimited Care of North Texas, Inc., today at 940-390-0493. We will be more than willing to answer the above questions, and provide you with any additional information that you might need.