There are more ways to pay for care than most families are told
Almost everyone who calls us assumes there are two options: qualify for Medicaid, or pay for everything out of pocket. There are at least six, and the ones in the middle are the ones nobody explains — a benefit sitting unused inside a health plan, a program for adults under 60, a policy bought twenty years ago and never claimed on.
Below is every route we know of, written plainly, including the ones that lead somewhere other than us. If you'd rather not read all six: call (708) 726-4536 and tell us what you have. Checking costs nothing, and what we find out is yours either way.
The six routes
Medicaid
Illinois Medicaid covers help at home for people who qualify on income and on need — personal care, homemaking, companionship — usually with nothing out of pocket. Hours are set by a care assessment rather than by what you can afford in a given month, which is why it's worth checking even if you assume you wouldn't qualify.
Where we stand, plainly: we aren't able to bill Medicaid for you yet. What we can do today is tell you honestly whether the person you're asking about is likely to qualify and what applying involves — and if Medicaid turns out to be the right route and you need care before we can bill it, we'll say so and point you to an agency that can.
- We'll talk through likely eligibility before you fill in a single form
- Hours are based on assessed need, not on your monthly budget
- Knowing where you stand costs nothing and you keep it either way
Call us with the situation and we'll tell you where you'd likely stand — and where we stand — on the same call.
The Illinois Home Services Program
This is the one almost nobody hears about. Illinois funds help at home for adults under 60 who live with a disability — personal care, homemaking, the ordinary everyday things — specifically so people can stay in their own home instead of moving into a facility. It is a separate program from anything on the senior side, with its own rules and its own front door.
If you are 34 with MS, 51 after a spinal cord injury, or the parent of an adult child with a developmental disability, this is very likely the route that applies to you — and the reason you've been told "you're too young for that program" every other time you've asked.
- Built around independence: the point is to keep you in your own place, on your own terms
- Age is a qualifier here, not a barrier — being under 60 is the point
- Often works alongside Social Security disability benefits
- Applying takes some paperwork; we'll tell you honestly what's involved before you start
Same straight answer as above: we aren't approved to be paid through this program yet — we're working through it. That doesn't change whether it's the right route for you, and it's worth applying regardless, because approval takes time and you'll want it in place before you need it.
Call us and say you're asking about the Home Services Program. We'll walk you through how it works and point you to the right office to apply — whether or not we end up being the agency you use.
Extra benefits inside a Medicare Advantage plan
This is the benefit families miss most often. A great many Medicare Advantage plans around here now include a set number of in-home support hours each year — help with meals, housekeeping, personal care, a ride to an appointment — as an extra benefit layered on top of the medical coverage.
It isn't printed on the card. It's rarely mentioned at enrollment. And the medical side of the plan usually can't tell you about it, because it isn't a medical benefit. It sits in the back of the benefits booklet under a heading most people never read.
- Look in the plan's benefits booklet for in-home support, personal care, homemaker, or caregiver support
- Some plans call it a flex allowance or a supplemental benefit card
- Hours usually reset each plan year — unused ones are simply lost
- Benefits vary a lot from plan to plan, even between two plans from the same insurer
Tell us the plan name and we'll find out what it includes. If it turns out the plan covers hours, we'll work with you on what it takes to use them.
VA benefits, for anyone who served
If there's military service in the family, the VA has a benefit built for exactly this: the Homemaker and Home Health Aide program, which pays an agency to provide everyday help at home. There's also Veteran-Directed Care, where the veteran holds a budget and chooses who provides the care. The VA medical centers serving this area run both.
And separately from all of that, there's Aid and Attendance — an added monthly amount on a VA pension for veterans and surviving spouses who need help with daily living. A remarkable number of families who qualify have simply never been told it exists.
- The way in is a VA social worker — ask for a referral to the Homemaker and Home Health Aide program
- Surviving spouses may qualify for Aid and Attendance too, not only veterans
- This runs on its own track, independent of Medicare or Medicaid status
- Nobody should ever charge you a fee to file a VA benefits claim
Ask the veteran's VA social worker about the Homemaker and Home Health Aide program. If you don't know who that is, call us — we'll help you find the right person to ask.
A long-term care insurance policy
A policy paid into for twenty years and never used is real money sitting there. Most long-term care policies cover care at home — not just nursing homes — and most families never file, because the paperwork is off-putting and nobody ever explained how to start.
This is often the situation an adult child inherits: a parent's policy, a folder of documents, and no idea what any of it means. It's one of the most common conversations we have, and it's usually shorter than people fear.
- Find the daily or monthly benefit amount — that's the ceiling on what it pays
- Find the elimination period — the waiting days before benefits start
- Check whether it requires a licensed agency; we are one
- Check whether it needs an assessment first, and who's allowed to do it
Bring the policy to a free consultation. We'll read it with you, tell you plainly what it covers, and handle the visit documentation the insurer asks for.
Paying on your own
Plenty of families start here, and it's the most flexible option there is — you choose the hours, change them whenever you like, and nothing has to be approved by anyone. It's also the right way to bridge the gap while a program application is working its way through.
The trick is to start with the hours that cover the hardest part of the week rather than trying to cover everything at once. Most families are surprised at how much difference a few well-placed hours make.
- No minimums, no long contracts — month to month
- Start small and add hours as you need them
- Monthly care plans are available if you'd rather have a set schedule and a set price
See the monthly care plans or how our rates work, then call for a quote built around your actual week.
One straight answer about Medicare
Original Medicare — the red, white and blue card on its own — does not pay for ongoing everyday help at home. It covers short stretches of skilled care after a hospital stay, and that's a different thing from what most families are looking for.
We'd rather tell you that here than let you find out three phone calls later. If Original Medicare is all that's in place, the answer is almost always one of the other five routes above — and it's worth ten minutes on the phone to work out which one. Call (708) 726-4536.
Not sure which one applies? That's the normal answer.
Tell us what you have — a plan card, a policy, a benefits letter, or nothing at all — and we'll do the checking. It's free, there's no obligation, and you keep whatever we find out whether or not you ever become a client.
Coverage rules change, and every plan, policy, and program decides for itself. Nothing on this page is a promise of benefits or a guarantee that any particular plan will pay — it's a map of where to look. We'll tell you honestly when a route leads somewhere other than us.