Home health care is cheaper than in-patient care. Much cheaper.
“For care that would cost you $1,000 in the hospital, $250 will get you the same services in your home,´ said Chris McNay, of Front Range Home Care in Loveland. “That includes using all kinds of equipment, EKGs and so on.”
Chuck Layman, a Prudential insurance agent who specializes in insuring the elderly, compares home health care to nursing-home care.
“Home health gives the same care for 50 to 75 cents on the dollar of care in a nursing home,” Layman said. “Skilled [nursing] care nine to 10 hours a day at home is still cheaper than care in a nursing home.”
In part, this is because home overhead is lower than hospital or nursing-home overhead. Competitive bidding on the part of home health-care agencies for exclusive contracts with insurance providers also helps keep costs low.