Stay home with help, or move to a personal care home?

Is home care cheaper than a personal care home in Pennsylvania?

Home care is cheaper for parents who need a few hours of help a day: at the 2025 Pennsylvania median of about $34 an hour, 20 hours a week costs about $2,950 a month, while the assisted living median is about $6,352, but around-the-clock care at home costs several times more.

What does home care include, and who licenses it?

Non-medical home care agencies and registries, which send aides for bathing, dressing, meals, housekeeping and companionship, are licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health; home health agencies, which send nurses and therapists under a doctor's order, are licensed separately and usually paid by Medicare.

CMS lists 24 Medicare-certified home health agency offices and 9 hospice offices in the three counties, most of them in Allentown and Bethlehem; agencies serve clients well beyond their office address. Ask any home care agency for its Department of Health license and how it screens and supervises aides.

What can a personal care home offer that home care cannot?

A personal care home offers staff on site around the clock, meals, medication administration, social contact and a building designed for safety, which matters most for parents who are lonely, fall at night or forget medications.

It also lifts the household management off a family caregiver. The trade-off is giving up home, and sometimes a shared room.

Who pays for home care in the Lehigh Valley?

Families pay privately for most non-medical home care, but OPTIONS through the Area Agency on Aging, Community HealthChoices waiver services and the LIFE program can pay for personal care at home for people who qualify, and VA Aid and Attendance can help veterans.

Medicare pays only for skilled home health, not for ongoing aide hours. Long-term care insurance policies often cover both home care and personal care homes; check the elimination period.

How should a family decide between home care and a personal care home?

Count the hours of help really needed today and in six months, price them at the local rate, add the cost of keeping the house, and weigh safety and loneliness honestly; when the hours pass 40 to 50 a week, a personal care home usually wins on cost and coverage.

Many families use home care as a bridge while touring homes and getting on a waiting list. An adult day program can also cut the hours needed at home.