Tips for Providing Senior Home Healthcare on a Budget

Caring for elderly parents in the home isn't always as affordable as you might think it would be. This is often the case when your parent is in need of home healthcare services. While your decision to care for mom or dad at home wasn't based on finances, you might discover that there are hidden costs you hadn’t planned for. The important thing is that you are able to keep them close to your heart and care for them in their final days as they have always cared for you. Unfortunately, hidden costs can often add up to more than you can comfortably handle, and so you are looking for ways to cut costs while still providing the very best care possible. These tips might prove very useful indeed.

​Consider Disposing of Disposable Healthcare Products

You might have been led to believe that disposable healthcare products are safer and much more sanitary, but that doesn’t always have to be the case. Reusable home healthcare products, if chosen wisely, can be much more cost effective and the right products can be cleaned and used over and over again. If you have an elderly parent who is incontinent, those disposable incontinence pads can run up quite a hefty expense. Reusable fabric backed pads are actually more comfortable than their disposable counterparts and they can be laundered for reuse many times over.
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Then there are face masks which are worn whenever your parent may be exposed to anyone outside the family circle. Instead of paying a small fortune for disposable masks, have you considered the benefits of reusable face masks which are most often safer than disposable masks and will be much less the cost because they can be laundered and reused over and over again?

​Utilize Insurance Coverage for Home Health Workers

You might want to look at whether your parent has supplemental insurance coverage in addition to Medicare. If your parent’s physician deems it necessary to have home healthcare services, Medicare may pay part of the cost. Supplemental insurance may cover the remaining balance but, in the event that there is no supplemental coverage or limited coverage, you may be left wondering how to cover the cost.
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If it’s only a matter of respite care so that you can get out from time to time, you may want to find relatives or friends to relieve you from time to time. Sometimes you can trade respite care with members of a support group you belong to and other times you simply may need to pay a ‘sitter.’ In any case, always exhaust all insurance options before paying anything out of pocket. The fewer expenses you need to pay for, the easier it will be to provide a level of care you desire.

It’s All About Quality of Life in Those Final Years

There may be circumstances in which your parent would receive better care in a senior living environment with 24/7 care services and other times your mom or dad would maintain a better quality of life when residing with you. It is important to make a logical assessment of the type of care they need. However, when you feel they can be better provided for in your home, these tips may help you stay within a limited budget.