Paying for care
What home care costs in Greater Cincinnati
Non-medical home care is charged by the hour. What a family actually pays comes down to how many hours a week are scheduled, when those hours fall, and what the visits involve. Overnight, weekend and holiday hours are usually priced differently from weekday mornings.
Medicare does not pay for it. That is worth saying before anything else, because it is the assumption that costs families the most time.
There is no minimum number of hours at Serenity, so a small schedule is a genuine option.
We do not publish a single hourly rate — here is why
Any agency quoting one number on a web page is quoting it before knowing anything about your situation. Two families in the same street can need genuinely different arrangements — one needs three weekday mornings of companionship, the other needs hands-on personal care with two caregivers at weekends — and one figure cannot honestly describe both.
So we quote after the assessment, against the schedule you actually need. What we will do here is explain every factor that moves the number, so that by the time you call you can tell whether the figure you are given is reasonable.
Call (513) 400-5113 for a quoteNo obligation, and no charge for the conversation. Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM ET.
The five things that actually move the number
1. How many hours a week
This is the biggest lever by far. Four hours on three mornings is a different budget from eight hours every weekday, and both are different again from live-in or overnight coverage.
Most families start smaller than they expect to end up. Starting before a crisis usually means fewer hours are needed, not more.
2. When those hours fall
Weekday daytime hours are the baseline. Evenings, overnights, weekends and holidays typically cost more, because they are harder to staff and it is right that the caregiver working them is paid accordingly.
If your need is flexible, shifting a visit from Sunday to Monday can genuinely change the monthly figure.
3. What the visit involves
Companionship and light housekeeping sit at one end. Hands-on personal care — bathing, transfers, toileting — sits at the other, because it requires more training and more physical work.
Two-person assistance, where someone cannot be moved safely by one caregiver, changes the arithmetic substantially.
4. Agency or private hire
Hiring privately looks cheaper per hour and often is, on the hourly line alone. What it does not include is payroll taxes, workers compensation, liability cover if someone is hurt in your home, background screening, supervision, and any cover at all when your caregiver is ill or away.
With a licensed agency those sit with the agency. Whether that is worth the difference depends on how many hours you need and how much risk you want to carry yourself.
5. Who is paying
The hourly rate is only half the question. What you pay out of pocket depends on whether a long-term care insurance policy, VA benefits or an Ohio Medicaid route applies to your situation.
Those can change the real cost to a family far more than shopping rates between agencies does. Our How to Pay for Care page explains each one factually.
Questions worth asking any agency about price
Including us. An agency that will not answer these plainly on a first call is telling you something.
- Is there a minimum number of hours per visit or per week?
- Do rates differ for evenings, overnights, weekends and holidays?
- Is there a deposit, a sign-up fee, or a minimum contract length?
- What is the cancellation window, and what happens if we cancel inside it?
- What happens to the rate if our needs increase?
- Who covers the visit if our regular caregiver is ill?
- Are you licensed, insured and bonded — and what is your licence number?
Serenity’s answers: no minimum hours; Ohio Department of Health licence 4491HHN; licensed, insured and bonded; and we quote against your actual schedule rather than publishing one rate. The rest we will go through with you on the call.
Common questions about cost
- How much does home care cost in Cincinnati?
- Non-medical home care is charged by the hour, so what a family pays depends mostly on how many hours a week are scheduled, when those hours fall, and what the visits involve. Serenity does not publish a single hourly rate, because one figure cannot honestly describe both a few mornings of companionship and hands-on personal care at weekends — we quote against the schedule you actually need, after the assessment. There is no minimum number of hours. Call (513) 400-5113 and we will give you a figure for your situation, with no obligation.
- Does Medicare pay for home care?
- No. Medicare covers home health — intermittent skilled nursing and therapy ordered by a physician — but it does not pay for ongoing non-medical home care such as help with bathing, dressing, meals, housekeeping or companionship. This is the most common and most expensive misunderstanding families arrive with.
- Is home care cheaper than assisted living?
- It depends on hours. For someone needing a few hours of help a day, home care is generally less expensive than assisted living and the person keeps their own home and routine. As the hours required approach round-the-clock coverage, a residential community typically becomes the less expensive option. The crossover point is worth calculating rather than assuming.
- Do you charge a deposit or a long-term contract?
- Ask any agency this directly before you sign, including us. The things to establish are whether there is a minimum number of hours, whether there is a cancellation window, and whether rates differ for nights, weekends and holidays. Serenity has no minimum hours requirement.
- What is the cheapest way to get help at home?
- Hiring someone privately usually looks cheapest per hour, but the comparison is not like for like: with a private hire you are the employer, which means payroll taxes, workers compensation, background screening, liability if someone is injured in your home, and no cover at all when that person is ill or on holiday. A licensed agency carries those. Whether that trade is worth it depends on how many hours you need and how much risk you want to hold.
Tell us what you need and we will cost it honestly
One short form. If it is something we provide, we will help directly. If it is not, we will connect you with a trusted local provider — free.