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Who are you caring for?
Which best describes their mobility?
How well are they maintaining their hygiene?
How are they managing their medications?
Does their living environment pose any safety concerns?
Fall risks, spoiled food, or other threats to wellbeing
Are they experiencing any memory loss?
Which best describes your loved one's social life?
Acknowledgment of Disclosures and Authorization
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington. Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services. APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid. We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour. APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment. You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints. Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights. APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.I agree that: A.I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information"). B.APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink. C.APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site. D.If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records. E.This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year. F.You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
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I acknowledge and authorize
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I consent to the collection of my consumer health data.*
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I consent to the sharing of my consumer health data with qualified home care agencies.*
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Mostly Independent
Your loved one may not require home care or assisted living services at this time. However, continue to monitor their condition for changes and consider occasional in-home care services for help as needed.
Remember, this assessment is not a substitute for professional advice.
Share a few details and we will match you to trusted home care in your area:
As I use to sell Long Term Care Insurance, allow me to give you the basics to help understand your own LTC policy or that of a loved one's.
First, yes, you can often use your LTC policy to pay for a home health aide, but it depends on the specific terms and conditions of your policy. Here's a general breakdown of how it typically works:
✅ When Long-Term Care Insurance Covers a Home Health Aide Most LTC insurance policies do cover home health care services, including the assistance of a home health aide, especially when the aide provides help with:
Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring (moving from bed to chair), and continence.
Cognitive impairments, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, which require supervision for safety.
📝 Common Policy Requirements To trigger benefits for a home health aide, the following conditions usually need to be met:
Benefit Trigger: The insured must typically need assistance with at least 2 ADLs or have a documented cognitive impairment.
Plan of Care: A physician or licensed care coordinator may need to create a plan of care, showing that in-home care is medically necessary. Provider Qualifications: The home health aide often needs to be employed by a licensed agency. Some policies do not cover privately hired aides or family members unless specified.
Elimination Period: There is usually a waiting period (e.g., 30, 60, or 90 days) before the policy starts paying out benefits.
Daily Benefit Limit: The policy will pay up to a maximum daily amount—you’ll need to compare that to what the aide charges.
🔎 Review your LTC policy for:
“Home and Community-Based Services” or “In-Home Care” coverage. Daily or monthly benefit caps. Lifetime maximums or years of coverage. Restrictions on provider types (agency-employed vs. independent). Whether homemaker services (e.g., cooking, cleaning) are included or excluded.
👥 Example If you or your loved one needs help with bathing, toileting, and dressing due to dementia, and the LTC policy covers in-home care with a $200/day limit, then:
A home health aide from a licensed agency charging $180/day would be covered. The benefit would begin after the elimination period is satisfied.
We have LTC insurance and it paid for $6,000/month. I had to put my husband in AL, they’ll pay $7,300/month. If he goes to skilled care it will pay the max $12,000. It depends on your policy. But may be worth it to start the claim bc most policies have an “elimination” period before they kick in.
Mom and I are paying out of pocket because her policy requires 24/7 to be eligible. Like others have said, depends on the policy. Also, might want to check the regular health care coverage for see if they include in home care. Mom’s unfortunately did not, but worth a look.
My aunt and uncle both had LTC policies from the same company. Aunts once activated was for the rest of her life. Aunts mom and GM had had alz. She developed Parkinson’s. Uncles policy was for two years once activated. Their daughter and son both were able to be paid. There were some provisions like they could only work (be paid for) so many hours each day or something like that. I remember it was difficult to get it started. They used home health/hospice through their Medicare policy as well. The daughter lived with them and took care of them 24/7. The son came in and helped once the dads needs escalated.
Please do read the policy carefully as there was some issue with the daughter living there that she had to deal with.
Whoops. I see your question was could you pay for HH aide not if you could get paid. My cousin did have aides from time to time. I’m not sure if LTC paid them or not. Sorry.
You need to call the insurance company you purchased LTC insurance with, or at least read the terms and conditions in the policy itself. We are a forum of laypeople from all over the world caring for loved ones and would have no clue what your policy covers!
First a clarification--You say you paid 11 years ago for LTC insurance. I believe most LTC insurance I know of is something for which you continue to pay annual premiums, and it's not a one time thing. Do you mean you've been paying premiums for the past 11 years?
As a first step, read the policy and contact the LTC insurance company to check on their requirements, let them know you plan to file a claim, and ask what you'll need to do. Most have a waiting period before benefits kick in, so the sooner you get the clock started on that the better. They will want an evaluation that shows the person meets their eligibility criteria, e.g., inability to perform two or more ADLs (activities of daily living) such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, etc. My husband had been getting Medicare-covered home health due to an acute condition, but needed continued home health aides after that. Our LTC company accepted the records of the Medicare home health agency for my husband's initial certification of need, and the 90 days he'd been getting the Medicare home health satisfied our policy's 90-day waiting period. For his recertification a year later, they had a contracted nurse come to the house. She was very thorough. The two years after that were during Covid so they didn't send a nurse but got records from the agency from which we had the aides, and the agency had to fill out a detailed questionnaire. We had friends who had to wait a whole year before their LTC policy would cover home health and they paid privately that whole time. Many (most?) LTC insurance companies will require that the aide be hired through an agency, but that I'm not so sure of.
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington.
Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services.
APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid.
We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour.
APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment.
You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints.
Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights.
APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.
I agree that:
A.
I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information").
B.
APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink.
C.
APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site.
D.
If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records.
E.
This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year.
F.
You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
First, yes, you can often use your LTC policy to pay for a home health aide, but it depends on the specific terms and conditions of your policy. Here's a general breakdown of how it typically works:
✅ When Long-Term Care Insurance Covers a Home Health Aide
Most LTC insurance policies do cover home health care services, including the assistance of a home health aide, especially when the aide provides help with:
Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring (moving from bed to chair), and continence.
Cognitive impairments, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, which require supervision for safety.
📝 Common Policy Requirements
To trigger benefits for a home health aide, the following conditions usually need to be met:
Benefit Trigger: The insured must typically need assistance with at least 2 ADLs or have a documented cognitive impairment.
Plan of Care: A physician or licensed care coordinator may need to create a plan of care, showing that in-home care is medically necessary.
Provider Qualifications: The home health aide often needs to be employed by a licensed agency. Some policies do not cover privately hired aides or family members unless specified.
Elimination Period: There is usually a waiting period (e.g., 30, 60, or 90 days) before the policy starts paying out benefits.
Daily Benefit Limit: The policy will pay up to a maximum daily amount—you’ll need to compare that to what the aide charges.
🔎 Review your LTC policy for:
“Home and Community-Based Services” or “In-Home Care” coverage.
Daily or monthly benefit caps.
Lifetime maximums or years of coverage.
Restrictions on provider types (agency-employed vs. independent).
Whether homemaker services (e.g., cooking, cleaning) are included or excluded.
👥 Example
If you or your loved one needs help with bathing, toileting, and dressing due to dementia, and the LTC policy covers in-home care with a $200/day limit, then:
A home health aide from a licensed agency charging $180/day would be covered.
The benefit would begin after the elimination period is satisfied.
Their daughter and son both were able to be paid. There were some provisions like they could only work (be paid for) so many hours each day or something like that. I remember it was difficult to get it started. They used home health/hospice through their Medicare policy as well. The daughter lived with them and took care of them 24/7. The son came in and helped once the dads needs escalated.
Please do read the policy carefully as there was some issue with the daughter living there that she had to deal with.
Whoops. I see your question was could you pay for HH aide not if you could get paid. My cousin did have aides from time to time. I’m not sure if LTC paid them or not. Sorry.
Good luck to you.
As a first step, read the policy and contact the LTC insurance company to check on their requirements, let them know you plan to file a claim, and ask what you'll need to do. Most have a waiting period before benefits kick in, so the sooner you get the clock started on that the better. They will want an evaluation that shows the person meets their eligibility criteria, e.g., inability to perform two or more ADLs (activities of daily living) such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, etc. My husband had been getting Medicare-covered home health due to an acute condition, but needed continued home health aides after that. Our LTC company accepted the records of the Medicare home health agency for my husband's initial certification of need, and the 90 days he'd been getting the Medicare home health satisfied our policy's 90-day waiting period. For his recertification a year later, they had a contracted nurse come to the house. She was very thorough. The two years after that were during Covid so they didn't send a nurse but got records from the agency from which we had the aides, and the agency had to fill out a detailed questionnaire. We had friends who had to wait a whole year before their LTC policy would cover home health and they paid privately that whole time. Many (most?) LTC insurance companies will require that the aide be hired through an agency, but that I'm not so sure of.