Benefits of Working with a Home Care Agency

It might be becoming to you, how working with a home care agency rather than a registry or individual worker can protect you as a consumer.

Hiring Most home care agencies have strict hiring criteria and hiring processes. In many states these criteria and processes are required by law. Any home care agency that receives payment for their services from a federal government program like Medicare or Medicaid are also required to have these strict criteria and processes in place. Registries are not subject to these laws and requirements. You want to use an agency who has successfully used their hiring criteria and processes for many years.

Background Checks
Although most states require that home health care agencies perform criminal background checks on their workers and carefully screen job applicants for these positions, the actual regulations vary depending on where you live. Therefore, before contacting a home health care agency, you may want to call your local area agency on aging or department of public health to learn what laws apply in your state.

Background checking laws usually do not apply to registries. When you do your own hiring, the background checking is up to you.

Caregiver Training
Most home care agencies have a structured program of training for their different levels of employees. State licensing laws, and the federal government in certain circumstances, require that home care agencies use only competent employees to provide home care services.

Again, registries are not subject to these laws. It’s up to you to determine the capabilities of any independent worker you choose to hire.

Insurance and Taxes
Home care agencies handle all aspects of employment, including all employer taxes and tax reporting.

With an individual worker and sometimes with a registry, you are responsible for
withholding taxes and social security, filing appropriate reports and paying employer
and employee taxes in a timely manner. Penalties are severe and could result in large
fines.

Scheduling
When you hire an independent worker, you are responsible for the hiring process from advertising to interviewing to separating the employment relationship. You are also responsible for scheduling. This means making all the phone calls and worrying about someone actually showing up to work.

If you are working with a home care agency, they take care of all of these issues.

Access to payors
If you require home care services that are covered under your insurance plan or by Medicare or Medicaid, you must use a home care agency that has been approved by your insurance plan and/or by the Medicare program.

Insurance companies (usually) and Medicare (always) will not pay for services delivered by a registry or by individual workers.