If you are reading this article, it means you have understood the importance of in-home care services for the seniors in your family. You will now need to think about the budget that you need to set aside for the same. To know how much in-home care services would cost you, you should have an approximate idea of the breakup of each of the services they provide. This will not only help you in planning your finances well but will also help you to choose the agency that provides you with full value for money when you are comparing 2 or 3 service providers.
The details given below are the average in-home care costs that are prevalent in the market today. They may differ with each company, but rest assured because the charges will hover around this range only. Here is a disclaimer – in-home care services don’t come cheap. Most of the agencies quote you by the hour. So you need to be very careful about the duration of services that you require.
Average costs
On an average, an in-home care professional will charge you between $20 and $25per hour for the services rendered. These charges may go up for overnight services and weekend services. However, this system will be applicable if you are hiring only 2 to 3 hours of help every day.
If you have seniors who require continuous monitoring, a daily package will suit you better than the hourly rate offer. Most of the in-home care agencies in and around the US charge between $200 and $350 per day, based on the services they offer. Household help such as cooking and cleaning services are available for a lesser rate of $200 per day; however, medical care services, assisting in routine activities and therapy treatments may cost you around $350 per day.
At any time during the care plan, if you require a doctor to come and visit your loved one, you will have to pay the doctor extra charges. This will not be included in the hourly or daily rate that we talked about in the sections above. Most doctors charge between $250 and $300 per visit.
If you are only looking for overnight in-home care, you can talk to your agency about the same. They don’t charge you by the hour but for the entire duration that you need the services for. Most in-home care agencies charge you between $150 and $250 for a 10-hour overnight vigil. As you can see, this is cheaper than the daily package. Opt for the daily package, only if there is an absolute necessity. If you think an overnight plan would suffice, you need to use your judgment and make a qualified decision here.
You need to set aside around $4000 to $5000 every month for in-home care services, especially if you have ailing seniors in your family. When you are shelling out such a huge amount, it is only natural that you do a fair bit of research and choose in-home care professionals who are licensed, reputed and experienced in the specific field that you want their services for.