Medical disclaimer. This article provides general educational information for families comparing home care agencies in Pennsylvania. It is not medical or legal advice. For care decisions specific to your loved one, call A-Team Home Care at (215) 490-9994 for a free RN assessment.
TL;DR. Choosing a home care agency in Pennsylvania is a high-stakes decision made under time pressure, often after a hospital discharge. The 12 questions below — covering accreditation, RN oversight, caregiver vetting, backup coverage, billing transparency, and Pennsylvania-specific licensing — let families compare agencies side-by-side in under an hour. A-Team Home Care is ACHC-accredited, founded in 2018, and serves Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware, and Chester counties.
Why agency selection matters more than families realize
The home care industry is fragmented. Pennsylvania has hundreds of licensed home care agencies, and the gap between the best and worst is vast. CMS maintains a public quality database for Medicare-certified home health agencies (Medicare Care Compare). For non-medical home care, there is no single federal scorecard, which is why a structured interview matters. AARP’s caregiving research shows families who interview multiple providers report higher satisfaction and fewer regrets (AARP Caregiving Resource Center).
The 12 questions, grouped by what they reveal
Print this list. Use the same questions for every agency you call. The pattern of answers — not just the words — tells you who you’re dealing with.
Credentials and oversight (questions 1–3)
- 1. Are you accredited, and by whom? Look for ACHC (Accreditation Commission for Health Care), Joint Commission, or CHAP. Accreditation is voluntary. The ACHC directory is publicly searchable.
- 2. Who supervises the caregivers? The right answer names a Registered Nurse by title and describes a recurring supervision schedule (every 60–90 days, or sooner when the care plan changes). “The scheduler” is a red flag.
- 3. Are you licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services? PA licenses home care agencies through DHS. Ask for the license number. Verify via dhs.pa.gov.
Caregiver vetting (questions 4–6)
- 4. What background checks do you run? PA requires State Police criminal checks and the PA Child Abuse History Clearance. FBI fingerprint checks are required for caregivers who have lived outside PA in the past two years. Confirm all three.
- 5. How are caregivers trained, and how often? PA requires 16+ hours of orientation plus annual training. Ask what topics are covered (transfers, infection control, dementia, emergency response).
- 6. Are caregivers W-2 employees or 1099 contractors? W-2 employees are covered by the agency’s workers’ compensation and liability insurance. 1099 contractors are not — which can leave the family exposed.
Operations and reliability (questions 7–9)
- 7. What happens if my caregiver calls out sick? Listen for a specific protocol: backup caregiver dispatched within X hours, family notified within Y minutes, supervisor follow-up. Vague answers predict missed shifts.
- 8. Do you have a written care plan, and who updates it? The care plan should be RN-developed after an in-home assessment, family-signed, and revisited every 60 days.
- 9. What is your average caregiver tenure? Tenure correlates with continuity, which correlates with outcomes for clients with dementia, post-surgical needs, or behavioral complexity.
Money, contracts, and exit (questions 10–12)
- 10. What is the all-in hourly rate, and what is excluded? Ask for the rate in writing. Confirm whether holidays, weekends, overnights, and live-in shifts are billed differently.
- 11. Do you accept Pennsylvania Community HealthChoices Medicaid waivers? If your loved one qualifies, the agency must contract with one of three managed care organizations: Keystone First Community HealthChoices, UPMC Community HealthChoices, or PA Health & Wellness. See the PA DHS Community HealthChoices page.
- 12. How do I cancel, and what’s the notice period? Read the contract. Reasonable notice is 7–14 days. Some agencies charge cancellation fees or require 30–60 days.
Red flags that should end the conversation
If an agency asks for full payment up front before any caregiver visits, walk away. If the agency cannot produce its PA license number on request, walk away. If the person on the phone cannot tell you who supervises caregivers clinically, walk away. If the agency uses 1099 contractors and asks the family to sign a waiver of liability, call A-Team Home Care at (215) 490-9994 — we’ll explain the exposure and conduct a free RN assessment so you have a side-by-side comparison.
How A-Team Home Care answers these 12 questions
A-Team Home Care is ACHC-accredited, licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, and supervised by a Registered Nurse clinical team. All caregivers are W-2 employees with completed PA State Police, PA Child Abuse, and FBI fingerprint clearances. We provide a written care plan after a free in-home RN assessment, with reassessments at least every 60 days. We accept Pennsylvania Community HealthChoices through the three statewide MCOs: Keystone First Community HealthChoices, UPMC Community HealthChoices, and PA Health & Wellness. Our service lines include personal care, skilled nursing, 24-hour home care, Alzheimer’s and dementia care, respite care, veterans home care, and our Family Caregiver Program for adult children who provide hands-on care to a parent.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to start home care in Pennsylvania?
Most private-pay families can start within 24–72 hours of the initial call: free RN assessment, signed care plan, caregiver match, first shift. Medicaid Community HealthChoices clients typically take 7–21 days because authorization must come through the managed care organization. A-Team Home Care prioritizes hospital discharges and tries to start within 24 hours when there is a clinical need.
Should I hire an agency or hire a caregiver privately?
Hiring privately is cheaper per hour but the family becomes the employer — responsible for payroll taxes, workers’ compensation, background checks, training, supervision, and backup coverage when the caregiver is sick or quits. An agency handles all of that and carries liability insurance. AARP and most elder-law attorneys recommend an agency for anyone who needs more than a few hours of help per week.
What’s the difference between home care and home health?
Home health is short-term, doctor-ordered, Medicare-covered skilled care after a hospitalization (nursing visits, physical therapy, wound care). Home care is longer-term, non-medical or nursing-supervised support for daily living (bathing, meals, medication reminders, companionship). Most aging-in-place families need home care, sometimes alongside home health for a few weeks after a surgery or fall.
Does Medicare pay for home care?
Original Medicare does not pay for ongoing personal or companion care. Medicare pays for short-term skilled home health following a qualifying event. Some Medicare Advantage plans now offer limited in-home support benefits — check the plan’s Evidence of Coverage. Long-term home care in Pennsylvania is paid out of pocket, through long-term care insurance, VA benefits, or Medicaid Community HealthChoices.
How much does home care cost in Pennsylvania?
Private-pay rates in southeastern Pennsylvania typically run between $28 and $38 per hour for personal care, with live-in and 24-hour rates structured differently. Medicaid Community HealthChoices rates are set by the state and the MCO. Veterans may qualify for VA-paid care through the Aid & Attendance benefit or the VA Homemaker/Home Health Aide program. Call A-Team at (215) 490-9994 for a written quote.
Can the same agency provide both daytime help and overnight coverage?
Yes. A well-run agency staffs across shifts and can scale up to 24-hour coverage when needed — for example, after a hospital discharge, during a dementia behavioral phase, or at end of life. Continuity of caregivers across shifts matters; ask the agency how they preserve continuity when they expand hours.
What questions should I ask about the caregiver who will actually be in my parent’s home?
Ask the agency: how was this caregiver matched to my parent, what is the caregiver’s experience with this specific condition (dementia, Parkinson’s, post-stroke), and may we meet the caregiver before the first shift. Reputable agencies welcome a meet-and-greet. If the agency declines, that tells you something.
What if the caregiver is not a good fit?
Tell the agency immediately. A reputable agency will swap the caregiver without making the family feel guilty. The exchange should happen within 48–72 hours. If the agency pressures the family to “give it more time” or charges a fee for a swap, the agency is not client-centered.
Sources & further reading
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — Medicare Care Compare (home health agency quality data)
- AARP Caregiving Resource Center — Hiring an in-home caregiver
- Accreditation Commission for Health Care — ACHC accreditation directory
- Pennsylvania Department of Human Services — Community HealthChoices program
- A-Team Home Care — Services overview
- A-Team Home Care — About A-Team Home Care
Disclaimer
This guide is general educational information and is not legal, financial, or medical advice. Verify license numbers, accreditation status, and Medicaid network participation directly with the agency and with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. A-Team Home Care is an ACHC-accredited home care agency serving Pennsylvania.
Related guides in this series:
