Home care and home health care are not the same thing.
These two phrases are used interchangeably in conversation and mean different things in practice. The difference decides who arranges the care, how long it lasts and who pays for it, which is why it is worth getting straight before you arrange anything.
The short answer
Home care is help with daily life. You arrange it, it lasts as long as it is useful, and it is usually paid for privately, through a Minnesota waiver, or through long-term care insurance. Home health is short-term clinical care ordered by a physician after an illness, an operation or a hospital stay, delivered by a Medicare-certified agency, and covered by Medicare when the eligibility rules are met. Many families need both at once.
Home care
Help with the day: personal care, companionship, household support, and in some cases nursing.
- You are arranging it yourself, without waiting for an order.
- The need is ongoing rather than tied to a recovery.
- What is needed is hours of help rather than a clinical visit.
- The funding is private pay, a waiver, or a long-term care policy.
Home health
Short-term clinical care ordered by a physician, usually after a hospital stay.
- A physician has certified that it is needed and written a plan of care.
- The need is skilled: nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy.
- The visits are intermittent and tied to a goal rather than to a schedule.
- You are covered by Medicare and the agency is Medicare-certified.
| What you are comparing | Home care | Home health |
|---|---|---|
| Who starts it | You do | A physician does |
| How long it lasts | As long as it is useful | A defined period, tied to a goal |
| What a visit looks like | Hours of help with the day | A skilled visit, often under an hour |
| Who provides it | A licensed home care provider | A Medicare-certified home health agency |
| Who usually pays | Private pay, a Minnesota waiver, or long-term care insurance | Medicare, when the rules are met |
| Covers personal care? | Yes. That is most of it. | Only alongside qualifying skilled care |
| Covers around-the-clock care? | It can be scheduled | No |
What Medicare home health actually requires
Original Medicare covers home health services when several things are true at once: a physician certifies that you need them, you need intermittent skilled nursing or therapy, you are homebound, and the agency providing the care is Medicare-certified.
- It does not cover personal care when that is the only care you need.
- It does not cover around-the-clock care at home.
- It does not cover meals delivered to the home, or homemaker services on their own.
These rules change. Read Medicare's own home health page for the current version rather than relying on any provider's summary, including this one.
Why the confusion costs families money
The most common version of this mistake is assuming Medicare will pay for somebody to help a parent wash and dress. It generally will not, and families tend to discover that after a discharge, which is the worst week to discover it.
The second most common version is the opposite: arranging and paying for help privately while a qualifying skilled need goes unclaimed. Ask which of the two you are actually arranging, and ask early.
Which one is Abloom
Abloom provides home care: help with daily life, and nursing services under a Minnesota home care licence. That is a different thing from Medicare home health, and having nurses available does not by itself establish Medicare coverage.
Whether any given provider is a Medicare-certified home health agency is a separate question with a yes or no answer. Ask it directly, of us and of anyone else you are considering.
Questions families ask
- The hospital said to expect home health. Is that what we are arranging here?
- Possibly not. Home health is usually arranged by the hospital under a physician's order and arrives on its own schedule. Home care is the help that sits around it, covering the hours nobody clinical is in the house.
- Can we use both at the same time?
- Often, yes, and they are arranged and billed separately. What matters is that everybody is clear which provider is responsible for which task, and who to call about each.
- Does Medicare pay for a caregiver?
- Not for personal care on its own. Check Medicare's home health page for what is covered, and treat any provider who tells you otherwise with caution.
Tell us which one you are looking for
If you are not sure, describe what was recommended and who recommended it. That is usually enough to work out which of the two you have been sent to find.